Birth of the MP3

The MP3 has been blamed for bringing about the downfall of major record labels. Opinions will differ, however the MP3 is clearly at the heart of the currently aching business model followed by traditional recording companies. The origins of the MP3 and its rise to power are remarkable in part because the history exists independent of influence from the music industry. A technology created for innovation now stands for the proposition that information wants to be free (it is finding a delivery medium that presents delivery hurdles).

Beginning as a concept to improve the transmission speed of audio-visual content, Leonardo Chiariglione approached the International Organization for Standardization during the mid 1980’s with the goal of establishing a standard format for compression of digital data. At the time, Chiraiglione was serving as the director of research at Telecom Italia’s Centro Studie Labratori Telecommunicazioni (described as the old “Bell Labs” Europe). In 1988 Chiariglione formed the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) to develop a team of researchers for the project.

Chiarglione’s team developed a codec program that could shrink large audio files by removing sound frequencies not naturally picked up by the human ear. To the casual listener, the audio quality does not sound meaningfully different and yet the file can be reduced to 1/12 the original size. The initial codec was improved by researchers at the University of Erlangen, Germany. In 1992, the codec was completed.

It was never intended for the codec to be accessible to the public at large. The technology was to be used internally for sending information within a closed network. These plans were forever changed when a hacker and Star Wars fanatic, “SoloH” stole a copy of the MPEG codec from the University of Erlangen. SoloH made additional tweaks to the program so it could quicly “rip” files from a compact-disk into an MP3. SoloH distributed the codec for free over the internet, and the program became viral. By 1994 America Online was bringing the internet to homes across America, and most computers contained CD drives. There was a lethal cocktail in place for fast free distribution of information, and great consumer control. With the MP3, nobody would ever need to buy an album in multiple formats (updating a vinyl collection to cassette and subsequently CD would be no more). Buy it once on CD, back it up on MP3.

Several years would pass before the MP3 officially took over the market. In another installment, I will look at 1999. That year saw the birth of Napster, and the first time a record company sold MP3’s online.