What is MP3?

MP3 is a revolutionary digital audio format developed by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and Thompson Multimedia in the late 1980s and brought to the mainstream through the Internet in 1997. MP3 is short for MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) Layer - 1 , the group that help make MP3 an international standard.

What MP3 Is

MP3 is a compressed audio format that allows for smaller file sizes with similar sound quality to PCM WAV format, the format found on normal music CDs you would buy in a store. Thompson and Fraunhofer helped develop the coding algorithm, or system of rules and processes, that encoded audio to this incredible format. For more on exactly how this encoding technology works, see our section entitled Inside the MP3 Codec.

Why MP3 is Popular

The popularity of MP3 comes from its practical uses. Music tracks in WAV format are extremely large in file size, averaging around 50MB in size. Since it is so large, it is not practical to send WAV files through email or offer them for download on the Internet. MP3, however, compresses WAV audio on average of 10 to 12 times smaller than the original size. The result is audio tracks around 3 to 4 MB in size, perfect for downloading and sending through the Internet. Thus, custom MP3 format CDs can be created with 10 to 12 times the amount of tracks of a normal 12-15 track audio CD, producing CDs with over 100 tracks easily. The format is also popular for turning your PC into a jukebox of hundreds or thousands of songs or loading them into a portable mp3 player and taking your music collection wherever you want.

Back to the MP3 FAQ.