Record Labels Looking For New Way To Stop The Bleeding

The record business will have a very important meeting on May 11, when the RIAA hosts a meeting for record labels to figure out the future of their business. Will the discussion focus on innovations in DRM? No. Antipiracy initiatives? Nyet. It will instead focus on a new physical medium to “replace” the CD on record stores’ ever-shrinking shelves:

“Other new format efforts have failed in the past, but we want to explore if there’s a play to be made to come up with a replacement for the CD,” says one executive who will attend the meeting. “While individual companies may have their own thoughts on new formats, when new ones are introduced it usually works better when everyone shares their ideas with each other.”

We’re just hoping that the innovation that comes from this meeting is something as forward-thinking as the record industry has proven itself to be over the past few years–perhaps the time has finally come for the “U-8,” the 8-track-welded-to-USB innovation that is, at the very least, backwards-compatible.

RIAA, Labels Plan New Format Meeting [Billboard.biz]