MPEG Audio Layer 3 (MAD)
MPEG Audio Layer 3, commonly known as MP3, is a patented encoding format for digital audio that uses a form of lossy data compression. It significantly reduces the amount of data required to represent audio while retaining a quality level that is perceived as faithful to the original sound for…
Key facts
- First appeared
- 1993
- Category
- technology
- Problem solved
- MPEG Audio Layer 3 was created to enable efficient storage and transmission of high-quality digital audio by dramatically reducing file sizes without perceptible loss of quality to the human ear. This made digital music practical for computer hard drives, early internet distribution over dial-up connections, and portable devices, a feat largely impossible with uncompressed audio or less efficient predecessors.
- Platforms
- Android, Embedded Systems, Linux, Dedicated Hardware Players, iOS, Windows, macOS
Related technologies
Notable users
- Apple (iTunes, iPod)
- Napster
- Fraunhofer IIS (developer and licensor)
- Thomson Consumer Electronics (patent co-owner)
- Nullsoft (Winamp)
- Microsoft (Windows Media Player)