QandAs: Tech

What is an MP3?

Answer:
An MP3 is a type of digital music file.

MP3 is short for MPEG Layer-3, which is a digital media standard that was developed by the Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG).

In fact, MP3 uses a type of audio or data compression known as lossy compression algorithm. This type of audio compression uses psychoacoustic modeling and allows the size of an audio file to be reduced by about 90%. Because of this common digital audio-specific encoding format for MP3s, consumers are able to transfer, store, and play back excellent reproductions of original audios. MP3 is not the only compression format for distribution of music via the Internet; however, it has become known as the “de facto standard” for such distribution.