Why Mp3 Is The Most Popular Music Format
March 13th, 2011 | 
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For many modern music fans, online music is synonymous with the MP3 format. Although other audio formats are available, and new ones emerging all the time, none of these have come close to rivalling MP3 in terms of popularity and versatility when sharing music over the internet.
The history of MP3 can be traced back to 1987, when the German company Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft researched audio compression for high quality music coded at a low bit-rate. The company obtained a patent in Germany for MPEG Audio Layer III (MP3) in 1989, and over the next decade developed the audio compression technology into its present form.
The first portable MP3 players appeared in 1999, and despite being bulky and limited compared to today’s standards, the freedom they offered from physical CDs sent a clear indication that a revolution was underway, in terms of how music was created and listened to. Artists began creating music tailored for the MP3 market, and as technology gradually caught up to the ideal, MP3 music became the standard for personal stereos, cars and now mobile phones.
The universal nature of MP3 means the format is compatible with a wider range of players than other forms of audio compression, which are often limited to specific players or have other drawbacks. While some formats such as WAV or FLAC are capable of boasting superior quality to MP3, this also results in much larger file sizes that are inconvenient when storing music on portable MP3 players. Other audio formats like WMA and AAC also have their advantages, but these are tailored towards users of Microsoft and Apple media players respectively.
The popularity of mp3 music shows that its creators succeeded in creating an audio format capable of holding high quality sound at a relatively low bit-rate. There is a wide range of compression formats available, from as low as 32 kb/s to as high as 320 kb/s, with lower bit-rates having inferior quality but the advantage of asmaller file size, meaning music fans can store a great deal more music than is often the case in other audio formats.
As storage space on personal computers and mp3 players has improved over the past few years, mp3 music at higher bit-rates such as 320 kb/s has become more popular among music fans easier to listen to their favourite songs in the highest quality possible. High quality music streaming has also seen MP3 reach a wider audience, as music lovers can listen to their favourite songs over the internet without needing to download them first.
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