MP3

Mp3 argument

The Next Revolution in Music Technology: Make or Break?

Throughout life I have encountered several different mediums of music including eight-track recordings, vinyl records, cassette tapes, mini-discs, digital audio tapes (DAT), and compact discs. I have always considered the CD to be the greatest technological advancement (as a medium of music) of my generation because it was the first digital audio format made readily available to the general public. Because of the CD, people were hearing music like they had never heard it before - exactly as it would sound in the artist’s recording studio. Among other things, we have digital audio technology to thank for that. But we have recently been presented with something new that some may give thanks for - Moving Picture Experts Group Technology, Layer-III, better known as MP3.

To those “outside” the complicated world of the Internet and technology, MP3 probably will not ring any bells. But anyone who has accessed the Internet or skimmed through any popular magazines lately will likely recognize MP3 and the propaganda surrounding it.

I do not want to bombard you with numerous technological terms, but a brief explanation is necessary in order to understand arguments surrounding the issue. MP3 is a new way to save, copy, and play audio files on a computer. The audio files are near

CD-quality and take up very little space on a computer’s hard drive. Previously, high-quality audio files were saved on a computer in WAV format, which takes up much more hard drive space than MP3. For example, a three-minute WAV file would use about

30 megabytes of disk space. But in MP3 format, the same song would use only two megabytes, leaving much more hard drive space available on the computer (which benefits the computer user).

Because MP3 files are typically less than five megabytes in size, they can be transferred very quickly and easily to and from anyone’s computer via the Internet. MP3 allows computer users to copy their favorite songs from CDs or other sources, onto their computer’s hard drive - ideal for playback when working at the computer. MP3 also makes it possible to convert your own personal recordings into digital audio files that are very easy to distribute.

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...e MP3 file to my computer’s hard drive. After the download was complete (which took about three minutes) I played the song to examine its audio quality. I was shocked to find that the same song actually sounded better than what

I had just heard on the radio.

So what does this all mean? I had heard a song by a commercially-recorded and licensed musician (copyright protected), and had acquired the recording in its entirety within minutes, without spending a dime. As a musician myself, the concept frightens me.

It has always been a dream that my musical talents and abilities would one day become my source of income, supporting me and my family. If unregulated distribution of copyright protected music continues to prevail, it is possible that musicians will no longer profit

(monetarily) from their God-given talents. Not only would musicians go broke, but they would also lose recognition of their skills and talents. It would become quite simple for someone to obtain a song in MP3 format and distribute it as his or her own, leaving the entity of music as nothing more than a vast pool of rhythms and melodies with no link or correlation as to who created it.