Internet music software and publishing company Recordare (reh-cor-DAH-ray) has announced version 2.0 of its MusicXML sheet music file format.

Version 2.0 adds a compressed format that makes MusicXML files approximately 20 times smaller than before, and also allows multimedia content to be distributed with digital sheet music. Unlike the MP3 format, the MusicXML format is available for anyone to use under a royalty-free license.

The MusicXML 2.0 format is supported by version 4 of the company's DoletR for Finale plug-in. Currently in beta test, MusicXML 2.0 is expected to be released this summer. For more information, please visit www.recordare.com.