Who Knew?

It’s called the “CMX format” in the article, which would lead one to believe it’s not just a marketing strategy but an entirely new file format that would only be compatible with devices and music players (iTunes, the Zune, the iPod) that decided to opt-in. Apple is working on its own album-bundle strategy, codenamed “Cocktail”. Both CMX and Cocktail contain interactive liner notes, music videos and more (mobile content is probably a given).

Certainly, selling more albums instead of individual tracks would boost the industry’s bottom line - will the labels just pursue this as another auxiliary marketing strategy, or will they pull what are commonly known as “dick moves” towards their consumers in order to bolster the format? For example, labels could elect to only sell music in CMX format (withholding the option to purchase individual tracks).