Formatwatch: Bono busy inventing something else nobody wants

You've got to hand it to Bono - just days after not realising nobody wanted his rump-reeking new record, even for free, he's coming up with another thing that people are neither seeking, nor requiring:

In a new Time magazine article, the singer has detailed the group's plans to help combat the illegal downloading of artists' music by creating a new file format which cannot be copied.

Unless there's some magic way it doesn't need to pass audio to an output, let me stop you right there Bono and say it doesn't work.

But do carry on.

The aim of the top secret project is to tempt fans to purchase full albums, not just individual tracks, once more so new material will once again become profitable for artists who aren't big on touring.

The problem here, Bono, is that 'bundling stuff into albums' is a thing that was convenient for labels and artists. It wasn't, ever, a thing that happened because music fans went to bed wishing that when they bought six songs they liked, they could get another four tracks they didn't like, and would never play.

Apple have already tried to resurrect the album format once - with the iTunesLP. That was meant to be an "immersive experience" with all sorts of extras which would make buying a bundle attractive again.

Nobody seems to have released one since last November's Justin Timberlake 20/20 Experience.

But, still, good luck, Bono.

Formatwatch: Pure Audio

In an attempt to squeak out a few more years from the physical format, Universal are pinning their hopes on Pure Audio, which is basically the third heavy attempt to do a high-quality CD style format after SACD and DVD Audio.

Imagine Pono in a physical format.

Stop staring blankly at me.

Okay, it's a BluRay disc with songs on it.

The BBC News site suggests that it could be something of a success, given how it's performed in France:

Pioneered by Universal Music, it launched in France earlier this year, where the initial batch of 35 titles have already achieved sales of more than 500,000.

One album, Mylene Farmer's Monkey Me, has sold 84,000 copies on Blu-Ray alone - which would be enough to ensure a top 10 placing in the UK charts.

It's sold 84,000 copies on BluRay alone, has it?

Not really, as it's not been available on BluRay alone - the PureAudio version comes with, erm, an ordinary CD and only costs a couple of Euros on top. So it might work as a heavily subsidised up-sell, but hasn't really had a test in its own right yet.