What do you do when the market doesn"t have what you need? If you"re the music industry you create a new digital format that will hopefully encourage users to purchase entire albums instead of single tracks.
The format dubbed CMX will give consumers more for their dollar when they download albums in the newly created format. Think of current music downloads to be similar to VHS and the CMX format will be more like DVDs in that they offer bonus content in addition to the music.
CMX has a few large backers including Sony, Warner, Universal and EMI but notably it is not being supported by Apple. Initially the group went to Apple and tried get their help so that the format would be supported by iTunes but Apple rejected the proposal and is said to be working on its own format incase CMX is a hit with consumers.
It is unclear if the content will work like previous DRM formats which burned both the industry and the consumer. The group hopes to get the format out to the public by November with a soft launch that may include the upcoming U2 album.