The worldwide de-facto-Standard for compressed music files, by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute invented, is on its way out. Thus, a new Era in the history of music comes to an end.
In a communication from the Fraunhofer Institute, it reads: “On 23. April 2017, with the expiration of a number of mp3 patents, has terminated the license of Technicolor and Fraunhofer IIS. We would like to thank all licensees for the good cooperation in the past two decades. You have helped to make mp3 to worldwide de-facto-Standard for audio coding.” What you want to say Fraunhofer: mp3 is dead, the audio standard used. And thus a German success story comes to an end.
The development of mp3 started in the late 80s at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (IIS), based on research results of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. Even if today, there are more efficient Audio compression methods, the expert speaks of audio codecs, mp3 is still very popular among the users. Today’s media, such as Streaming TV or Radio use more modern techniques. This offer, extended setting possibilities and a better audio quality at much lower bitrates compared to mp3 Format.
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“A cultural phenomenon”
“mp3 is more than a technology, mp3 is a cultural phenomenon. And mp3 is an example of a successful research, development and marketing in Germany”, says the electrical engineer, Heinz Gerhäuser, who is considered the inventor of the mp3 format. “mp3 has changed the way we buy music and listen. Today we carry our entire music collection onto music players, which are not larger than a matchbox for a walk with us. Songs in mp3-Format play always and everywhere, there is no device that does not support mp3. We buy music online through the Internet and is no longer in the store.” Much to the Annoyance of the established music industry, it is necessary to add here.
mp3 compresses and stores music. Compared to the Original an mp3 file requires only about ten percent of the space. So music can be transferred quickly over the Internet and on mp3 players to be stored. A modern mp3 Player can store depending on the store size is between 2000 and 200,000 minutes of music, over 130 days of continuous music playback. So you could ride in the car for four months comfortably, from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego without a single piece of music twice to hear.
The birds in the garden are gone
How the compression method works, Gerhäuser explains the mid-90s, in an Interview with Deutsche Welle: “imagine you are lying in a deck chair in the garden and hear the birds chirping. Suddenly, the neighbor on the lawn mower. The birds are singing still, but they are not listening to you. And what the human ear no longer perceives you can expect from the sound file confidently.”
Germany, also thanks to mp3, a global leader in the development of audio technologies. Such license revenues in the millions and in new research projects to be invested. And the state also benefits through tax revenue and resulting jobs. The mp3-induced tax revenues total for Federal government and the Länder on a year at least 300 million euros. At least 9,000 jobs are due directly by mp3, for example, in the trade or in the case of manufacturers of mp3 players.
Heinz Gerhäuser is considered to be the inventor of the mp3 Format
The precursor of viral marketing
After the establishment of the mp3-Standards by international standardisation bodies, many large consumer electronics companies had no interest in the Format. Because on the one hand, nobody believed in the success of mp3 technology, on the other hand, many companies had developed their own formats. The researchers therefore started with the marketing and concentrated on the market of end-users: they use the Internet as a marketing platform and offered paid Software to Download. This quickly led to the mass proliferation of mp3. This “viral Marketing” was anything but commonplace: The Internet was young, and as a distribution channel is little-known.
The problems were but at the time, the same as they are today: Actually, the mp3 should be sold – compression software on the Internet, and thus, money to be earned. This business model, however, was quickly destroyed: An Australian Student bought the Software with a stolen credit card number and made then available to the public. The Software business was off for the Fraunhofer. The Software like a wild fire on the Internet spread. At the same time, the rapid spread of music in the mp3 Format began, but often in disregard of copyright.
In Germany impossible?
Why there was not a German company, which can take the success of mp3 Players such as the iPod from Apple would have anticipated? Hans-Jörg Bullinger, President of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, explains: “small and medium-sized companies are the innovative strength of an economy is important. As smaller companies, but typically lack the money, to be able to the risks of product development and market introduction, they are in need of specialized venture capital companies – which are represented in Germany. Therefore, it manages the German company, to rare, to bring an idea to market maturity.”
It was only when mp3 was already a success, even jumped on a moving train, and has soared, thanks to multi-million marketing budgets and a user-friendly product designs to the market leader. In Germany, there was and is no with Apple to a comparable company that can take advantage of the success of the U.S. computer manufacturer would have anticipated. Apple is investing solely for advertising per year, several hundred million dollars. No German company in the entertainment electronics would have been able to afford it.
Which means now is the end of mp3? First of all, users can listen to the furthermore, mp3 files, or edit. The experts of the Fraunhofer Institute rates, however, in the future, more modern Codes, how to use AAC. The AAC files are of the same quality for around a quarter smaller than MP3 files. The iTunes Store of Apple already uses since the beginning of 2003, the AAC Format.