The MPEG Interactive Music Application Format Standard [Standards in a Nutshell]

The music industry is going through a transformation, and new interactive music services have emerged. It is envisaged that this new concept of digital music content will dominate the next generation of music services. A standardized file format is inevitably required to provide the interoperability between various interactive music players and interactive music albums. This issue is addressed in a new standard by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), known as the MPEG-A Interactive Music Application Format (IM AF). IM AF integrates multiple audio tracks with appropriate additional information, enabling users to experience various preset mixes and to make their own mixes complying with interactivity rules imposed by the music composers with the aim of fitting their artistic creation.