What is the true meaning of the report that "MP3 has died"?

ByMike

An article with an impression that it seems as if MP3 will be unusable in the future, that "MP3 has died" in overseas news media has circulated. However, Marco Arment, a programmer and writer, explains the current situation behind this word because it is too early to say "MP3 has died".

"MP3 is dead" missed the real, much better story - Marco.org
https://marco.org/2017/05/15/mp3-isnt-dead

On May 11, 2017, the National Public Radio (NPR) of the USA announced the article "The MP3 Is Officially Dead, According To Its Creators (MP3s Officially Deadened According to Creators)". And after receiving this newsGizmodoYaEngadgetPublished an article with a similar headline.

The MP3 Is Officially Dead, According To It It Creators: The Record: NPR
http://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/05/11/527829909/the-mp3-is-officially-dead-according-to-its-creators


The word "MP3 is dead" sounds as if MP3 will become unusable in the future, but it is not so in fact. The above-mentioned news media article is based on the announcement made by Fraunhofer Institute, but what is written in this announcement is as follows,TechnicolorThat is the license of the MP3 format which was holding was expired.

Mp3
https://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/en/ff/amm/prod/audiocodec/audiocodecs/mp3.html


Technicolor 's licensing program ended on April 23, 2017. If you read the following article, you can see how the licenses of MP3 have followed the circumstances.

Technicolor 's patent with MP3 patent expires - GIGAZINE


MP3 was developed as an audio standard of the video compression standard MPEG-1. However, MP2 rather than MP3 was chosen as the audio track standard of CD-ROM and DVD player, and cash flow was difficult. On the other hand, due to the good sound quality and the light file capacity, it will be widely used as a digital audio format on the MP3 internet.

After that, due to cash flow, Fraunhofer Institute partnered with Technicolor, mainly selling licenses for MP3 for game sound sources. This license was terminated on April 23, 2017.

As mentioned above, Fraunhofer Institute's announcement simply suggests that "MP3's licensing program has ended" and "We are still recommending the use of high-quality AAC and MPEG-H formats that are still licensed It is written that it is called. It can be thought that game developers can benefit from being able to use MP3 freely without being restricted by the disappearance of the patent right of MP3, but this reads that "MP3 will no longer be usable" It was reported in a headline that people would misunderstand.

Meanwhile, overseas news media "Motherboard" etc, received a series of news reports that "MP3 is still alive and may be more lively than before January".

The MP3 Is Not Dead - Motherboard
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/mp3-is-not-dead


Engadget said "The license of MP3 has ceased, in other words, the developers did not want to continue supporting MP3 anymore, as of 2017 there are other better formats to record music Because of the reason ", but programmer and writer Marco Arment insists that MP3 does not disappear because there are other better formats.

For example, the AAC recommended by Fraunhofer Institute is indeed of high quality, but the difference in quality is noticeable only at low bit rates. If it is 128 kbps or more, the difference in sound quality with MP3 is hardly felt. AAC has advantages in AAC, such as telephone / music streaming service, bandwidth limited application, sound quality does not deteriorate easily, but since the patent has not yet expired, its use is limited and innovation has occurred There is also a view that it is hard to do. Also, in podcasts, it is necessary to reproduce one file on various terminals, so it is also the current situation that MP3s that are more widely supported are likely to be chosen.

Until April 2017, there was no audio format that it was practical, widely supported, and no patent restriction existed. However, now "restrictions" that create unnecessary friction in the Internet world have been removed, there are practical formats that can be used freely. These mean "MP3 is still alive and may be more lively than before January."

ByFlorian Eisermann