MP3 facts for kids
MP3 is a special way to make digital music and sounds smaller. It's like squishing a big file into a smaller one so it takes up less space on your computer or phone. MP3 stands for MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer 3.
Contents
What is MP3?
MP3 uses a "lossy" way to make files smaller. This means that when a sound file is turned into an MP3, some tiny bits of information are removed. Don't worry, you usually can't even tell! The MP3 system is smart. It knows that the human ear can't hear certain sounds if other louder sounds are playing at the same time. So, it removes those sounds you wouldn't hear anyway.
This clever trick lets MP3s be about 5 times smaller than the original sound file, without you noticing any difference in how it sounds. If you make them even smaller, about 10 times, you might notice a tiny change, but it's still pretty good!
Lots of people use MP3 files to listen to music on their computers or portable players. However, big music companies don't like it when people share these MP3 files online for free. They believe it breaks their copyright rules. A group called the RIAA has even taken people to court for sharing music. A famous website called Napster was shut down because of this. Napster later reopened, but it doesn't let people share MP3s anymore.
Other ways to make audio files smaller include Ogg Vorbis and FLAC. Ogg Vorbis is a lot like MP3 but has some improvements. FLAC is different because it's "lossless." This means no information is lost when you make the file smaller. FLAC files are usually 2 to 3 times smaller than the original.
How MP3 Was Created
The idea for MP3 started in the 1980s. A person named Dieter Seitzer and his team in Germany wanted to create a way to make high-quality audio files that were very small. Their institute in Germany got the patent for MP3 in 1989. A patent means they officially owned the idea.
Later that same year, MP3 became part of something called the MPEG-1 specification. MPEG stands for "Moving Picture Experts Group."
The first device that could play MP3s was made by the same German institute in the 1990s. Then, in 1997, a student from Croatia named Tomislav Uzelac made something called "AMP MP3 Playback Engine." This was the first real MP3 player. Two other students, Justin Frankel and Dmitry Boldyrev, took this engine and added a friendly design like Windows. They called it Winamp.
When Winamp was released for free online, it became super popular very quickly. This helped start the age of easily downloading music. Soon, many other people began making new programs for MP3s, like tools to turn music CDs into MP3s (called "rippers") and more players.
MP3 Players and How They Work
Today, many software MP3 players are free to use. This is because you don't have to pay special fees to create them. Some companies say they still own parts of the MP3 technology, but many people think those claims might not be valid anymore because the technology is quite old.
Some of the most well-known MP3 players include Winamp, Sonique, iTunes, and MusicMatch. The main job of an MP3 player is to take the compressed MP3 file and turn it back into regular sound. Then, it sends that sound to your computer's soundcard, which makes the music come out of your speakers or headphones. Even though different players might look or feel different, they all use the same basic code to play MP3 files.
You can also find MP3 players that don't need a computer. These can be small, portable devices you carry with you, or they might be built into a stereo system or a car radio.
Timeline of MP3
- 1987: Research on "Digital Audio Broadcasting" begins in Germany.
- 1988: MPEG is created as part of the ISO.
- 1989: MP3 gets its patent in Germany.
- 1993: The MPEG-1 standard is officially released. The first MP3 encoder for PCs (called L3enc) comes out.
- 1994: MPEG-2 is designed.
- 1995: The MPEG-2 standard is officially released.
- 1996: MP3 gets its patent in the United States.
- 1998: The LAME encoder is released.
- 1999: Music in MP3 format is first shared by a company called SubPop. The first portable MP3 player appears.
- 2017: The last patents related to MP3 technology expire.
Related pages
See also
In Spanish: MP3 para niños
