New high-quality MP3 format debuts
The online world will get its first glimpse of the new MP3 format Thursday, with the
first major update to a technology that has become synonymous with both digital music
and online piracy Thomson Multimedia and the Fraunhofer Institute, the companies behind
the MP3 digital music format, are releasing an upgraded version of their music format
Thursday called MP3Pro. The companies hope to attract software and hardware developers
to the new technology but are also providing a version for consumers to play with.
Although the release will be limited, it will include a new player and "ripper," or file creator, that will allow music lovers to create near-CD quality digital music files using only about half the disc space previously required for MP3s. While MP3Pro files will work with software and devices based on the current MP3 format, they may sound worse on systems designed for standard MP3s because of differences in the way the sound is recorded. MP3Pro uses two separate streams of data to improve audio quality, only one of which can be detected by older players. The release comes as the old MP3 format is under increasing pressure from companies such as Microsoft and RealNetworks, each of which have struck deals with record companies to use their technology in subscription or download services. But with the nearly universal use of MP3s online, Thomson and Fraunhofer hope to finally win their way into the record companies' graces.
Others aren't nearly as confident about this strategy's success. Analysts note that even the new MP3Pro will lack any kind of built-in anti-piracy mechanism. This makes it a far less attractive choice than Windows Media from the record companies' perspective, they say.
The MP3 backers do have one critical bit of history on their side. To this point, at least, it has been consumers, rather than record companies, who have driven the online music technology. The MP3 wave started as a grassroots phenomenon, as did later services using MP3 files such as Napster and its rivals.
Other formats have moved ahead, however. Windows Media, for example, has offered much smaller files for equivalent audio quality for several years. An open-source, royalty-free project called Ogg Vorbis also is making substantial progress with its own high-quality format.
The technologists behind MP3 announced that they would release their own updated version of digital music's standby early this year.
The drive to push more data into smaller files has been critical as more people download music online over slow dial-up connections or load songs onto MP3 players with limited memory. Although PC hard drives are ballooning to the point where hundreds of albums could fit on a typical drive without filling it, the "flash memory" used in most portable players remains relatively expensive.
The MP3Pro format will be completely compatible with past MP3 files, so a new player will still be able to play songs encoded, or "ripped," with earlier technology, the companies say. But a new level of information has been added that substantially increases the audio quality for a given file size.
The companies haven't said who has agreed to use the technology, which will be about 50 percent more expensive to license than MP3. That means any company using Fraunhofer's encoder, whether in a hardware device or a software program, will have to pay about $7.50 per unit they distribute, Linde said. Companies developing their own software based on the technology would pay about half that much based on current published rates. Companies including MusicMatch have looked at early versions of the format, calling it " excellent," but have not announced plans to add it to their software. These companies' decisions to release products including MP3Pro will be the ones responsible for its move into the mainstream, if it moves that far.
Although the release will be limited, it will include a new player and "ripper," or file creator, that will allow music lovers to create near-CD quality digital music files using only about half the disc space previously required for MP3s. While MP3Pro files will work with software and devices based on the current MP3 format, they may sound worse on systems designed for standard MP3s because of differences in the way the sound is recorded. MP3Pro uses two separate streams of data to improve audio quality, only one of which can be detected by older players. The release comes as the old MP3 format is under increasing pressure from companies such as Microsoft and RealNetworks, each of which have struck deals with record companies to use their technology in subscription or download services. But with the nearly universal use of MP3s online, Thomson and Fraunhofer hope to finally win their way into the record companies' graces.
Others aren't nearly as confident about this strategy's success. Analysts note that even the new MP3Pro will lack any kind of built-in anti-piracy mechanism. This makes it a far less attractive choice than Windows Media from the record companies' perspective, they say.
The MP3 backers do have one critical bit of history on their side. To this point, at least, it has been consumers, rather than record companies, who have driven the online music technology. The MP3 wave started as a grassroots phenomenon, as did later services using MP3 files such as Napster and its rivals.
Other formats have moved ahead, however. Windows Media, for example, has offered much smaller files for equivalent audio quality for several years. An open-source, royalty-free project called Ogg Vorbis also is making substantial progress with its own high-quality format.
The technologists behind MP3 announced that they would release their own updated version of digital music's standby early this year.
The drive to push more data into smaller files has been critical as more people download music online over slow dial-up connections or load songs onto MP3 players with limited memory. Although PC hard drives are ballooning to the point where hundreds of albums could fit on a typical drive without filling it, the "flash memory" used in most portable players remains relatively expensive.
The MP3Pro format will be completely compatible with past MP3 files, so a new player will still be able to play songs encoded, or "ripped," with earlier technology, the companies say. But a new level of information has been added that substantially increases the audio quality for a given file size.
The companies haven't said who has agreed to use the technology, which will be about 50 percent more expensive to license than MP3. That means any company using Fraunhofer's encoder, whether in a hardware device or a software program, will have to pay about $7.50 per unit they distribute, Linde said. Companies developing their own software based on the technology would pay about half that much based on current published rates. Companies including MusicMatch have looked at early versions of the format, calling it " excellent," but have not announced plans to add it to their software. These companies' decisions to release products including MP3Pro will be the ones responsible for its move into the mainstream, if it moves that far.
