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MP3
What does MP3 stand for?
MP3 is an abbreviation for MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, a data compression format for encoding digital audio, most commonly music.
How does the MP3 format reduce the size of a CD audio file?
MP3 encoding reduces the size of a CD audio file by discarding certain sounds based on assumptions of what the ear is least likely to miss. Different levels of compression were available, with higher-fidelity encoding yielding larger files.
What can an MP3 file be played on?
An MP3 file can be played on a personal computer or portable digital music player, or it can be written onto a standard audio CD, although the data loss from compression is not reversible.
MP3, adata compression format for encoding digital audio, most commonly music. MP3 files offered substantialfidelity tocompact disc (CD) sources at vastly reduced file sizes.
In 1993 the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) at theInternational Organization for Standardization (ISO) released the MPEG-1 standard for video and audio compression. MPEG-1 included three schemes, or layers, for audio encoding, of which the third—called MP3—quickly became the most popular through the wide availability of simplecomputer programs for compressing music files.
MP3 encoding reduced the size of a CD audio file by discarding certain sounds based on assumptions of what the ear is least likely to miss. Different levels of compression were available, with higher-fidelity encoding yielding larger files. An MP3 file could be played directly on apersonal computer (PC) or portable digital music player, such asApple Inc.’siPod, or written onto a standard audio CD, although the data loss from compression was not reversible.
- In full:
- MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3
By the early 21st century millions of songs were available in the MP3 format for the average consumer to store on a PC or MP3 player. Online services allowed computer users to share their music files with millions of others. Yet, even as musicians and consumers began posting downloadable MP3 files online as a way of directly reaching listeners,recording companies took legal action to prevent the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted recordings. Meanwhile,legitimateInternete-commerce sites, such as Apple’siTunes Store, sprang up to serve the market, selling individual songs that could be downloaded in a matter of seconds and changing forever the distribution ofmusical recordings. The MP3 format was supplanted by formats like MP4 encoded with Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) that offered higher-fidelity encoding than the MP3 without increasing the file size.