Streaming media formats: MP3
MP3 has gained huge popularity as an encoding format because of its great sound quality. For radio-style broadcasts, professionals unanimously agree that it is the best-sounding format. MP3 is most commonly used for easily and efficiently uploading and downloading music files to the Web. MP3 is especially popular among downloadable music enthusiasts because it preserves audio quality while creating file sizes that are up to 12 times smaller than uncompressed WAV or AIFF audio files. MP3 is also quickly becoming the preferred format for streaming music as well, even though it is more complicated than setting up a RealMedia Server.
MP3 is derived from the group known as MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group). The members of MPEG are responsible for establishing standards for digital encoding of moving pictures and audio.
Unlike Liquid Audio, MP3 is not a proprietary end-to-end music delivery system. This distinction is important since companies concerned about copyright protection and secure delivery may decide to use the Liquid Music System for music distribution instead of merely posting MP3 files on a web page. On the other hand, the fact that MP3 is an accessible standard means it has the advantage of widespread industry support and compatibility with many applications and media players, including RealPlayer G2, Beatnik, Shockwave, QuickTime 4, and Windows Media.
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