French remix programme offers Jackson fans new hit

U.S. pop star Michael Jackson gestures during a news conference at the O2 Arena in London March 5, 2009.

PARIS (Reuters Life!) - Would-be DJs mourning the death of Michael Jackson will be able to rediscover their favourite artist's music thanks to new French technology that allows fans to re-mix the King of Pop's Motown-era hits.

Several labels have now taken an interest in the technology, with Motown Records, label of the legendary Jackson 5, giving MXP4 rights to tracks by the group in which Michael Jackson's career began.

Songs by Lily Allen, Basement Jaxx and David Guetta are also now available on the player.

MXP4 technology is a simplified mixdesk which allows users to create their own mixes by adding or removing vocals and instruments using an online player or playing with existing remixes of classic tracks.

The player can be streamed from social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, with clubs for groups such as The Jackson 5 already offering fans the opportunity to re-mix hits like "Want you back" and "ABC."

"For fans of Michael Jackson it's really about rediscovering the track," the CEO of Paris-based MXP4 Albin Serviant said, adding "the idea is that in the future we won't just play music, we'll play with it."

Developers said the technology could breathe life into the MP3 format, adding that the lack of a lyrics booklet or CD case had lost music some of its charm.