Music for the millenium - MPEG-1 audio layer 3

Electronics Times, June 14, 1999

The audio compression format MP3 or MPEG-1 audio layer 3 to give it its full name is threatening to ignite a music format war.

For better or worse, you can now download tracks via the Internet that sound almost as good as a CD but arrive at one-tenth the file size. The benefits seem obvious. And while not all the wrinkles have yet been ironed out, it now looks to be only a matter of time.

Supporters of MP3 hail it as the catalyst for the next music revolution, while its detractors principally the record companies fear that it could become the ultimate method for distributing bootlegged recording.

The truth probably lies somewhere in between the natural conservativeness of the music industry and the unbridled enthusiasm of the technology's backers. But for better or worse, the downloadable music genie is out of the bottle whether we like it or not.

At the heart of the debate is a compression technology that can squeeze a four-minute song into a 4Mbyte file by throwing away parts of the audio spectrum. And while this 'lossy' approach does have an effect on the overall depth of sound, to most ears the slight drop in quality is barely audible.

Once downloaded, an MP3 file can be played back via a PC's sound card, transferred to a dedicated portable player or recorded on to a blank CD or Minidisc.

But for this method of product dissemination to become established to everyone's satisfaction, the music-buying public must first make a substantial investment in equipment. And the music industry needs to create a secure format for billing and distribution so as to avoid wholesale illegal copying. Unfortunately for MP3, it contains no security measures, which leaves the door open for competing systems which do.

Current estimates suggest that the value of music downloads will reach the $4bn mark by 2004 and more than double that by 2010. It is therefore little wonder that software and hardware providers have taken such a keen interest in this new market.

As a result, a slew of competing technologies are starting to battle for control of the still-chaotic MP3 domain.

April saw Microsoft unveil its MS Audio 4.0 software format which it hopes will steal MP3's thunder, and at first glance it does appear to offer a number of significant advantages. Not only is the sound quality reported to be better, but its files sizes are actually smaller around half the size.

Moreover, MS Audio 4.0 has been designed to prevent unrestricted copying. Unfortunately for Microsoft, it is not a company identified with music, and the recording industry is also showing reluctance to be wedded to a single software provider. MP3, for all its faults is an open format albeit one lacking security.

Michael Robertson, CEO of MP3.com, a leading commercial MP3 distributor, said: The record labels don't want anything to do with Microsoft. This says to me that they are more worried about Microsoft than they are about MP3 piracy.

Another of Microsoft's problems is that, despite a link-up with Sony Music Entertainment, it has worked outside the Recording Industry Association of America's Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI), which aims to establish a secure rights-protected framework for the distribution of digital music.

A flurry of product announcements, ahead of the SDMI guidelines, suggests that no-one is prepared to forsake a share in a market that expects to see one million portable Internet music players of all types sold by the end of the year, and 32 million MP3 players alone sold by 2003.

Being first off the blocks has always been a key factor in Microsoft's success, and its deal with Sony to provide the software platform for the record company's initial foray into on-line sales is a major coup.

Although the relationship is not exclusive, the announcement by the world's number two music distributor is undoubtedly a vote of confidence for the principal, if not the eventual shape, of retailing music over the Internet.

Steve Haworth, vice-president of corporate communications for RealNetworks, said: The bottom line is I think it's great for everyone in the digital distribution business that one of the labels is moving ahead at making music available on the Web.

His company's RealJukebox download software is already being used by more than 60 artists including Aerosmith, Public Enemy and Julian Lennon.

Perhaps the most important commitment to on-line music sales has come from EMI, which is currently negotiating with its artists to make available a selection of its massive back catalogue via the home computer.

According to Sir Colin Southgate, the company's outgoing chairman, EMI will have established an Internet presence by the end of the year. Although he revealed no details of the size of the company's intended downloadable catalogue, there will undoubtedly be a significant Beatles presence.

EMI, which along with Sony, Warner, BMG and Universal currently control 90% of the recorded music market, is acting partly out of a desire to maintain its share of a rapidly fragmenting audience and partly from a deep-seated concern that, if the industry fails to act now, it will be left trailing in the dust of the bootleggers.