New MP3 Might Revolutionize The Way You Listen to Music

Or it might not... Who knows?

From Digg:

A new file format that offers separate volume controls for each musical instrument, such as guitar, drum, base and voice, is being considered as a new Internet standard.The new .MT9 file format, which a commercial title of “Music 2.0″, was selected as a candidate for consideration at a regular meeting of Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG).

After reading the article, it looks like Music 2.0 is a way to deliver compressed multitrack recordings. From the article:

If you are a serious guitar-master wannabe and you want to focus on the tune of Brian May's guitar and don't want to hear Freddie Mercury's voice and Roger Tailor drumming in Queen songs, then this may be what you have been looking for.
Korean computer engineers are introducing a new digital music format that has separate controls on the sound volume for each musical instrument, such as guitar, drum, base and voice -- an ideal tool for music lovers of different tastes as well as karaoke fans.

That's not a bad idea. Actually, it is kind of cool. I think it would be inherently more flexible than the current EQ controls we stick onto music players. We fiddle with these controls to emphasize certain frequencies of sound (so I can pump the bass in my Corolla, HOT!). With Music 2.0 we could just control the entire mix in real time. There's something kind of sexy about that. Being able to custom tailor our music tastes down to the instruments we prefer.

My only real issue with the idea is my own personal desire to move away from compressed music. With storage getting cheaper and cheaper, the idea of ripping my music collection to flac or even wav, isn't unreasonable anymore. Wav files are usually 5-10 times the size of mp3's (depending on bit rate). If Music 2.0 were uncompressed, it's 6 channels of controllable audio would be a sizeable jump in storage. The average 3 minute pop tune would jump from about 3MB (128Kbps MP3) to approximately 180MB as an uncompressed MT9. If you even CAN rip to an uncompressed MT9...

The last paragraph of the story posted is pretty cool though:

Unlike other digital formats exclusively used by big companies such as SK Telecom, Audizen allows users to copy the MT9 files, making it a more attractive format. ``It's like having a CD or cassette tape. Once you buy it, you can lend it to your friends. We don't want to be too fussy about DRM (digital right management),'' he said.

Well said! Now all they have to do is unseat MP3.
I'm not holding my breath...

read more | digg story