An online music store that offers files in midi format instead of mp3/aac.

First the music cartel (sorry, music industry) would need to persuade all its artists to use standardized digital instruments. This shouldn't be too hard since a) the music industry basically owns them and b) 90% of pop musicians are probably already doing this anyhow.

The advantages:

a)Much smaller file sizes. Only the voice track would still need to be encoded into a waveform. All other tracks could be encoded into a logical format since the user already has the instrument files on his/her computer.

b)Higher quality - equal or superior to CDs.
-- kinemojo, Oct 17 2007

No.
-- wagster, Oct 17 2007


If existed a place to purchase multitrack recordings of my favourite songs, I would spend hours taking them apart track-by-track and remixing them. MIDI is the closest thing I have to this at the moment, but leaves much to be desired. Still, I would pay $0.10 for a MIDI file of a song I like, which could also be used as a mobile phone ringtone.
-- ed, Oct 17 2007


There's not enough midi channels to cover all the sounds in the world.
-- airportpanic, Oct 17 2007


<blows raspberry>
-- k_sra, Oct 17 2007


[+] any "musical" group that has more producers and synthesizers in studio that artists could just this. (any rapper, most emo and some pop-rock) I really like this idea, but then again I really hate MTV.
-- evilpenguin, Oct 17 2007



random, halfbakery