MP3 Downloads Vs CDs and Streaming Music
Whether you buy songs on a CD or download them from the internet, most music today is encoded as MP3 files. MP3 stands for MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 and is a compression system that reduces the size of the original digital information without significantly impacting sound quality. The MP3 file format allows you to store a song on a computer in a much smaller file size, making it easier to transfer and play on other devices such as portable media players, mobile phones and computers.
If you're buying music on a CD, the MP3 files on the disk are actually magnetic imprints of bits on a magnetic medium that is read back into sound by your MP3 player. If you purchase an MP3 download, there is no mass sent to you at all -- no physical medium or information goes from one place to another. Instead, you are purchasing a pattern of 0s and 1s that is then decoded by your software into the audio you hear.
You can also purchase MP3 downloads from music services such as iTunes and Spotify. These sites typically require you to subscribe in order to access and listen to music, and they can be more restrictive on how you use your purchased songs. Many musicians are choosing to distribute their music in a non-traditional manner. For example, comedian and folk musician Jonathan Coulton uses a blog to keep fans up-to-date on his activities and also lets them download songs for free from his site.
There are also a wide variety of websites that offer Mp3 Download, often in high quality, such as 256 kbps. These lower bit rates can still allow for good sound quality but are generally used to reduce the price of music downloads, making them more affordable to more people.
While there are advantages to both MP3 downloads and streaming, the most important thing is that you support artists and creators by accessing music through legal and authorized platforms. Then, it's just a matter of finding what works best for you.
You can find thousands of MP3 downloads on the Web by searching for your favorite songs or albums and downloading them to your computer. Most of these downloads are in the high-quality 256 kbps MP3 format, and they can be easily transferred to and played on portable media players such as iPod(r)s. You can even burn these MP3s to regular CDs if you'd like to listen in your car or on other traditional home stereo systems. Just be sure to choose the highest resolution possible to get the most sound quality from your downloads. A higher resolution means that the MP3 file will take up more space on your computer or device, but the quality will be much better than a lower bit rate, which can flatten and dull the sound of music. 320 kbps is generally considered to be the minimum acceptable resolution for MP3s. Compressing any more can seriously impact audio quality.