Are MP3's a breakthrough in technology or are they just another bomb waiting to explode on us? Some say they are good while others argue that they are not only bad but horrific to musicians that want to make it to the top. MP3's are used widely by teenagers on their personal computer and are constantly being threatened by the producer of the music. Billions of dollars are being lost due to the Internet craze of the MP3 technology mainly because no one is buying the legal music from record stores anymore. Now that the problem is out, Internet police are on the loose to find these illegal distributors of music and put them to a stop. When all the smoke is cleared, it is apparent that the producer of music will have eventual victory over the users in the MP3 battle.
Today a new type of medium has entered the music listener's realm that was until recently limited to vinyl records, cassette tapes, and compact discs. The technology that brought us the personal computer and the Internet has fostered a new type music recording that has become extremely controversial. This new fad, referred to simply as "MP3," has caught the interest many music listeners around the world. .
The acronym MP3 stands for Moving Picture Exports Group 1, Audio Layer 3. This format is a type of compression made especially for digital audio. It works very effectively to compress CD-quality music into a file about one twelfth of the size, while retaining close to the original quality. This gives the listener an appealing new method to listen to music. .
Many believe that MP3's are breaking copyrights and is a form of online piracy. Online piracy is playing or downloading songs and lyrics from the Internet without authorization and without compensating the artists. Downloading a song without permission or compensation is considered online piracy. Pirate recordings are the unauthorized duplications of copyrighted recordings, the packaging of the recording, art, label, title, sequencing, etc.