Rocker Neil Young doesn’t like iTunes, primarily because of the sound quality due to compression, and he’s has been talking with record companies about a new technology based on Blu-ray.

First, there was the AIFF music compression codec. At 60 MB per song, this was much too large to download a decade ago and music remained relegated to physical CDs. Then, MP3 compression brought that down to 4-6 MB pr song and ushered in a new era of music downloads on the Internet and hand held music devices like the iPod.

According to Richard Waters at the Financial Times, on Monday Mr. Young "let slip that he is now talking to record companies about licensing an alternative digital platform that he has been working on - something, he claimed, of far higher quality that could provide an alternative to the privacy-prone download world, and perhaps even a new business model for music."

A new business model is something the music industry could certainly use right now.

While there few additional details, Mr. Young might be thinking about uncompressed digital audio on Blu-ray music discs that can’t be copied easily and which provide astounding audio quality. That’s something that so far has been used somewhat rarely with theatrical movies on Blu-ray (and previously HD DVD). Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio are two of those formats currently available for movies.

Anyone who has listened to uncompressed audio demonstration discs on Blu-ray can attest to the power, depth, and physical presence of uncompressed audio delivered at 18 Mbps (a rate that would fill a standard CD with one song) knows they’re in audiophile heaven.

"We’re in discussions right now about developing our own media platform based on that. Something record companies can sell their artists’ works on. Something that can’t be downloaded, something that’s got much more depth," Mr. Young said.

Whether customers, many of whom have been weaned away from CDs thanks the portability of their music on iPods, will take to to high end audiophile-grad music on Blu-ray is a big unknown at this point. Research has shown that many iPod customers remain relatively insensitive to the quality and compression of the music they listen to at US$0.99 a pop. However, if Mr. Young’s vision comes to pass, music on plastic discs could take on a new life.