News

UK trade group pushes MP3 labeling

By Tim Conneally | Published November 5, 2008, 11:55 AM

MP3 compatible! In the United Kingdom this week, the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) unveiled the "MP3 Compatible" campaign, to easily inform customers whether the content they're downloading is actually in MP3 format.

Digital music vendors Play.com, HMV, 7digital, Digitalstores.co.uk, Tescodigital, Woolworthsdownload.co.uk, and Tunetribe.com have all adopted the ERA's new "MP3 Compatible" seal, to indicate that their content is MP3 and not another format that is less universally compatible or protected by DRM.

In March, 7digital became the first DRM-free music store in the EU to carry every major label's content. The MP3 Compatible label, however, is not visible on 7Digital's US beta site, nor is it immediately obvious on the UK site. In fact, the logo is very difficult to spot on most participating sites. Woolworth's is the only site where the logo is rather obvious.

The ERA expects this label to be picked up internationally, and is seeking support from device manufacturers to label players similarly.

Comments

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skapig
Nov 5, 2008 - 10:14 PM

Ok... if you really need to make it painfully obvious.

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foxfyre
Nov 5, 2008 - 1:50 PM edited

If you were buying hard copy labeled product it could be useful. (But how many do that?!)

If its a download, it seems that "DRM Free" would be just as useful...

As long as there is no licensing or cost to use it, it can't hurt...

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Paul Skinner
Nov 5, 2008 - 1:09 PM

Well I suppose it's quite handy to spot that if you're in a hurry, but otherwise it's pretty useless.

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