Asked to list technological elements of the 21st century, individuals will invariably go to the computer, the internet, touch phones, the iPod, or e-mail. One technology that is easily over looked is that of the MP3, an encoding of sound that allows for the sharing of recordings over all the mediums described. MP3, or MPEG Audio Layer III, is a continuation in the long history of humans seeking to record sound and replicate it elsewhere. The current use of MP3’s will certainly evolve into future technologies of sound recording and playback, but the current existence of MP3’s is a marvel in technological advancements surrounding sound recording and playback.
MP3 is a format for a file, it is a way to store music for a user, or send to individuals. The MP3 originated with a file format called the MPEG, named after the Moving Picture Experts Group, which sought to take information from one format and convert it into one for use on CD’s or hard-drives (Rose and Ganz, 2011). The effort to convert music to a playable element on a computer and manipulating its size, had its origins with recordings that were on compact discs, the then main way of transmitting vocal information and performances in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. The size of the file on a CD, when placed directly on a hard drive, was quite large, making it very difficult to distribute or save in large amounts on computers with limited storage (Rose and Ganz, 2011). Streamlining how the data was saved and played back was what the MP3 format did for users who wanted a compressed format. The quality may not be as good, but size wise, it enabled easy transferability.
Prior to widespread use of the CD, there were cassette tapes and records that allowed for the distribution and collection of recordings. Cassette tapes are a form of magnetic recording, a technique for sound recording and play back that originated in the 1870’s (Audio Engineering Society, 2013). Cassette tapes use magnetic recording, but place the recording in a protective plastic cover and could be played using a machine by simply pushing a button, which eliminated advanced technology knowledge for using a recording machine with magnetic tape (Audio Engineering Society, 2014). In contrast to magnet tapes there were also disc recordings, which consisted of phonographs in the 1880’s, and later record players in the 1920’s (Record Collectors Guild, 2014). Both cassette tapes and records worked off of the principal of capturing a sound and replaying it for the listener. Cassette tapes begun to be mass marketed in the 1970’s, but records maintained a prominent role in music sales until the 1990’s (Record Collectors Guild, 2014). An important element of the evolution of these sounds recording was the portability of the devices, as well as the durability of the recording material.
The future of MP3 and sound recordings are addressed by the developer of MP3 format, who acknowledges that in only a matter of years the MP3 will probably be obsolete. MP3’s were created for sole purpose of portability, not sound quality, and the creation of MP3’s focused on reducing sound elements of a recording (Rose and Ganz, 2011). The future of sound recording will likely seek to create a file format that is still small, making it portable, but enhancing how the information is encoded, thus increasing the sound quality of the product. MP3’s have already undergone some enhancements, such as iTune’s “Digitally Remastered” MP3’s, which seek to restore elements of sound that were eliminated for the MP3 format. The onward progression of sound recordings has involved the increase in the portability, accessibility to the user, and now the overall quality of what the recording offers the listener.
