From Downloads To Players, All You Need To Know About Online Music And Mp3 In One Detailed Article

Mp3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3) is easily the most recognized digital file format. Almost everyone associates Mp3 with music, and this recognition factor is due in large part to the music industry's well-publicized legal battle against Mp3 distribution. Even though there is a strong association between music and Mp3, many people have no idea what Mp3 actually is.

Mp3 is a compression algorithm that reduces the size of audio files considerably. Audio data in the form of stereo CD recordings takes a tremendous amount of hard drive space, so before the development of audio compression, trading audio files was impractical. Thanks to Mp3, audio files could be compressed to about 1/10 of their original size while still retaining good audio quality. This allowed people to upload and download online music on the Internet, bringing the full wrath of the established music industry on music distribution services like Napster. Today, the music industry has embraced Mp3 to some extent, and Internet web sites such as Apple's iTunes allow people to download online music for a fee.

As we stated above, Mp3 is a compression algorithm. Typical audio CDs are recorded at 44,100 Hz and 16 bits. This means that 44,100 audio samples are recorded each second and each sample is 16 bits. This is a constant data stream which is equivalent to about 10 MB per minute of stereo audio.

Mp3 works by throwing away some of this data, particularly frequencies which are beyond human hearing. The trade-off is reduced sound quality, but for many people the difference is not noticeable. Sound quality can be improved by encoding the audio at higher bit rates, but this results in larger files.

The big advantage of Mp3, of course, is the compact file size. Audio files which are encoded at 128 kb per second are approximately 1/11 the size of the original audio file. As well as permitting Internet distribution of songs, the small size of Mp3 files has also spawned the Mp3 player market. Mp3 players are compact devices (sometimes no bigger than a cigarette lighter) that can hold hundreds of songs. Mp3 players are currently one of the hottest consumer items in the world.

The process of applying an Mp3 algorithm to an audio file is called encoding. For playback purposes the file must be decoded. For this reason, audio players need a codec (enCOder / DECoder) to play Mp3 files. These codecs are included in virtually every portable audio player.

For more information about Mp3 as well as online music, have a look at our other articles on the subject of the Internet and music!

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