If you have ever listened to music on your computer or on your via a iPod, then you have almost certainly used an MP3 file. Most people have no idea what an MP3 File is. Basically, an MP3 is a format for compressing audio files suitable for use on a computer or personal audio device.
What really is a MP3?
An MP3 file, (actually it's correct name is MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3) , is a digital audio format that is "lossy" (meaning the more the file is compressed, the more the quality of file file deteriorates from the original).
The file format was initially designed so that audio could be compressed to significantly reduce size of the file, whilst trying to remain as true as possible to the quality of the sound. This compression is achieved using psychoacoustic (the study of subjective human perception of sounds) methods to eliminate those parts of the audio spectrum that are not audible to the human ear, saving only those parts of the audio spectrum that we can hear.
A MP3 can be compressed and saved in many diverse ways, allowing for size flexibility and quality of the data. This one is one of the major reasons for the popularity of the file format.
A very brief history of the MP3 file format
MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 initially life as the "Digital Audio Broadcast" , financed by the European Union.
By 1991, two competing proposals where around, these included "Musicam" and "ASPEC". The best featured of each format where "combined" into what we now known as the MPEG format.
The algorithm (file format) was approved in 1991 as MPEG-1, becoming the international standard ISO/IEC 11172-3 in 1993. 1994-1995 saw the release of MPEG-2. Further work on the MPEG audio format was finalized in 1994. For a more detailed description of the history of the MP3 file format see (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mp3)
The MPEG-1/2 file format is currently patented and controlled by Thomson Consumer Electronics, who has been actively enforcing these patents. The Fraunhofer Institute started notifying several groups of developers in 1998, stating that a license was required to "distribute and/or sell decoders and/or encoders".
These licensing and patent issues have led many developers to focused more and more on creating and popularizing alternative audio file formats such as WMA and Ogg Vorbis. Microsoft has chosen to distance its self from the MP3 file format and uses its own Windows Media formats to avoid these licensing issues
Some of the key reasons, why the MP3 is still popular:
- The term MP3 has become a de facto name for storing audio files on digital devices
- The alternative file formats do not provide features that are significantly better than the MP3 format
- The great amount of existing material already in this format, and
- The huge range of equipment that can read and write this format
This article is only a very general introduction in the history of MP3's, nor can it delve too deeply into the working of the codex. If you require more information about this file format then see the following sites: Fraunhofer IIS - http://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/amm/techinf/layer3/ MP3 Patents - http://www.mp3licensing.com/patents/index.html
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