The band in question this time is the world famous, Foo Fighters, a rock band, who have sold out stadiums in every continent across the entire world.

The rumours are that the band’s time is rapidly coming to an end as their brief European 2010 tour pans out as expected, making the band a few more million and a few more fans.

Dave Grohl, former drummer for Nirvana, has said that the band have agreed to take a break from music after this tour. He even said on NME that he did not have any idea when he would see the other band members again and hence did not know if it was the end or not.

The question is, when you are in a band this big and popular, what do you do next? The band have sold out Wembley stadium and played in front of 90,000 fans on more than one occasion.

The Foo Fighters have become one of the most iconic rock bands of this day and age and the thought of them not going onto make more music together is not even worth thinking about.

If it is the end, and no one has said it is yet, then it will be one hell of a way to bow out of music. Grohl has already started playing a few solo shows and has even started another band, Them Crooked Vultures, with the front man of Queens of the Stone Age.

Any Foo fans that read this, chin up and live in hope. Grohl has always come back bigger and better than before. It is just a case of whether it’s in Foo form this time or in another way, shape or form.



They’ve been around for a while but they have just sent out a record called Fire Like This. The good news is that it’s taking off big time and has been well received in magazines such as NME and Rolling Stones.

So what defines these guys and makes them popular? If you listen to the music you may actually be putt off pretty quickly but you have to stick with it to really see their heart and value.

The album is more of a sticking it to the man sort of a record as opposed to trying to be what it’s not and create songs, which will be echoed around stadiums by 40 or 50 thousand people.

It’s clear these guys just love to get together in their Brighton studio are start putting the ideas around and seeing what grows. They’ve pretty much admitted that a lot of their first album, Box of Secrets, did just originate from jamming sessions, which panned out at practices.

Stick with these guys, they’ll make you smile after a long day and they’ll take your mind off of some of the taxing wonders that this world has to offer.

It’s probably a good idea to see them out and about now before they get too big. If they refine their sound a little more then they are going places. Big places with large food and beer tents and packed full of thousands of people.

It’s clear they need a little exposure but this will come once the word of mouth starts to turn into a big deal and phenomenon. Get the record, put it on and dance away. Simple as that.

Fire Like This 2010

1. “Don’t Ask” — 3:17
2. “Light It Up” — 3:59
3. “It Is Happening Again” – 3:40
4. “When We Wake” — 4:33
5. “Keeping It Close” — 3:21
6. “Count Me Out” — 3:39
7. “Heartsink” — 3:39
8. “Follow The Lines” — 3:35
9. “One More Empty Chair” — 4:23
10. “Colours Fade” — 7:08

Box of Secrets

25 FREE Downloads. eMusic for your iPod® or any MP3 player

As a band Sade have the ability to incorporate a number of genres, which touch on many aspects of music that different people can enjoy. In a world where so much commercialization is taking place in the music industry, it is refreshing that a band like this can still produce great work. Soldier of Love is the band’s 6th studio album and it is definitely worth a listen whether you are a follower of Sade Adu and co or if you have just discovered their musical talents. This is the band’s first studio album for a decade so there can be no wonder that it exploded like dynamite when there was news of single and album release late last year.

Expect them to stay on the top level of music because there quality has not faded and the time away from making regular albums has clearly allowed the band to freshen up and take a big leap into the modern music world. There are still many examples that link them to great relaxing bands of the age such as Massive attack and there are also many elements of funk, which still define them and the way they think about music. You always expect big things from a band that has sold over 50 million records around the world. Sade have absolutely pinpointed the Smooth Jazz feel with Soldier of Love and it is no doubt that it is currently number one everywhere you tend to look.

Sade have registered their first number one album for twenty four years and they are an example that if you take time away from the art to relax, do other things and then come back, you will explode into life and be better for it.

Discography

• 1984: Diamond Life
• 1985: Promise
• 1988: Stronger Than Pride
• 1992: Love Deluxe
• 2000: Lovers Rock
• 2010: Soldier of Love

Soldier of Love Tracks

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

1.     “We Got the Party”
2.     “Nobody’s Perfect”
3.     “Make Some Noise”
4.     “Rock Star”
5.     “Old Blue Jeans”
6.     “Life’s What You Make It”
7.     “One in a Million”
8.     “Bigger Than Us”
9.     “You and Me Together”
10.     “True Friend”

1.     “See You Again”
2.     “East Northumberland High”
3.     “Let’s Dance”
4.     “G.N.O. (Girl’s Night Out)”
5.     “Right Here”
6.     “As I Am”
7.     “Start All Over”
8.     “Clear”
9.     “Good and Broken”
10.     “I Miss You”

The album, having sold 3,200,000+ copies in the U.S, has been RIAA-certified 3× multi platinum. The album has also sold over 4 million copies worldwide.

The band started as a solo project for Nick Jonas.[8][9][10] At the age of 7, Nicholas began performing on Broadway.[11][12] He has acted in several plays, including A Christmas Carol (in 2000 as Tiny Tim and as Scrooge at eight), Annie Get Your Gun (in 2001 as Little Jake), Beauty and the Beast (in 2002 as Chip), and Les Misérables (in 2003 as Gavroche).[12][13][14][15] After Les Misérables closed, he performed in The Sound of Music (as Kurt) at the Paper Mill Playhouse.[16]

In 2002 while performing in Beauty and the Beast, Nick had written a song with his father called “Joy to the World (A Christmas Prayer)”. With background vocals from the Beauty and the Beast cast, Nick performed the song on the 2002 annual Broadway “Equity Fights AIDS” album, Broadway’s Greatest Gifts: Carols for a Cure, Vol. 4.[17][18] In November 2003, INO Records received a demo copy of “Joy to the World (A Christmas Prayer)”.[19] The label released the song to Christian radio, where it quickly became popular on Record & Radio’s Christian Adult Contemporary Chart.[18] While Nick was working on his solo project, Joe followed in his footsteps to Broadway, appearing in Baz Lurhmann’s production of La bohème. According to Nick, this was also the first year the brothers started writing songs together.[20]

By September 2004, an executive at Columbia Records found out about Nick’s song.[17][18] Nick was soon jointly signed to INO Records and Columbia Records and released the single “Dear God”.[21] A second single, a new solo recording of “Joy to the World (A Christmas Prayer)”, was released on November 16.[22] It was supposed to be followed by a December release of a self-titled solo album Nicholas Jonas, but the album had been pushed back;[23] it did, however, get a limited release.[24] Nick, along with his brothers, Kevin and Joe, had written several other songs for the album.[17] In early 2005, Columbia Records’ new president, Steve Greenberg, listened to Nick’s record. While Greenberg did not like the album, he did like Nick’s voice.[25] After meeting with Nick and hearing the song “Please Be Mine”, written and performed by the brothers, Daylight/Columbia Records decided to sign the three as a group act.

The Jonases are known for their wholesome, “family-friendly” image,[85] and the brothers are all committed Evangelical Christians. Their father is a former Assembly of God pastor, and they were homeschooled by their mother. In addition, to signify their vow to abstain from premarital sex, on their left-hand ring finger they all wear purity rings. Joe has said that the rings symbolize “a promise to ourselves and to God that we’ll stay pure till marriage,” and Nick had stated that the rings are “just one of our ways of kind of like being different than everybody else out there.”[86] They reportedly started wearing the rings when their parents, Denise and Kevin Sr., asked them if they wanted to.[87] They also reportedly abstain from alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.[88]

Russell Brand made fun of the purity rings during the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards.[89] Brand held up a silver ring, claiming to have relieved one of the brothers of his virginity,[89] and said: “Well done the Jonas Brothers. Each wear a ring to say they are not going to have sex; I’d take them more seriously if they wore it around their genitals.”[90] Brand later faced criticism and apologized for his comments. He later confirmed his apology during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.[90]

2003’s Elephunk was a breakthrough album for The Black Eyed Peas, vaulting them to a level of success unparalleled by any other hip-hop group. The accolades are quick to recite: 7.5 million albums sold worldwide, 4 Grammy nominations, 1 Grammy award, and an unforgettable performance on the 2005 broadcast. But fitted with loose rhymes, buoyant anthemic funk and an ebullient live spirit, the album also heralded a new sound for the modern age – one that is inspired by hip-hop, eschews boundaries and inhibitions, and cuts across ages, races and backgrounds. It is a sound that can be described only as One Nation Under A Black Eyed Peas Groove.

But if Elephunk was the group being crowned prince of the castle, then Monkey Business, their fourth album, is The Black Eyed Peas conquering the throne to become King. It is an album that further intensifies their passion for making music together, for connecting with their audience through the most fundamental ways: making people have a good time. It is a credo that has inspired the group since they formed in the late 1990s, earning their keep in the nurturing environment of Los Angeles’ vibrant hip-hop underground. Even then, the group possessed a magnetic spirit that helped them establish a worldwide following through their first two albums, 1998’s Behind The Front and 2000’s Bridging The Gap.

In many ways, Monkey Business is a direct descendant of its predecessor. The success of Elephunk kept the group touring around the globe for nearly 18 months. “In going on the road for so long, we got an idea of what kind of music we wanted to play and make,” explains will.i.am. “Monkey Business is very much about the types of songs we play live. It’s about a party. It’s layered differently and has energy to it that reflects how we tour – from the beats to the types of instruments we used to how we interact with the audience. It’s very much about us and the crowd on this record.”

Monkey Business was literally produced and recorded during The Black Eyed Peas everlasting road trip. “I was in Brazil doing some CD shopping,” will.i.am recalls. “I came across this compilation and I thought it was one thing but it turned out to be something else. The Dick Dale song ‘Miserlou,’ was on it. At first I was angry – this isn’t what I wanted to buy,” he laughs. “But then, really, that song is hot. I said, ‘we should do a song like this.’ I jump-started the computer and made some beats on the train. Then we had to fly to Tokyo and I tightened up the beat on the plane. Then I recorded vocals in this park in Tokyo. And that’s how we recorded the song, ‘Pump It.’”

The song, a jump-up party anthem, is one of the featured tracks on Monkey Business – and made its debut in a commercial for Best Buy electronics. “It’s the beauty of technology now – you can record anywhere, anytime, any which way. And I love that song because it feels like our live shows, it has that energy.”

Monkey Business also furthers the bond the group forged as friends during the making of Elephunk. Before recording that album, the three original members of The Black Eyed Peas – will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo – had been ensnared by personal demons. “I remember that we were each talking about the things that were haunting us and seemed to be crippling us,” recalls will.i.am. Adding the vocal talents of singer, Fergie, the group used music as a therapeutic vehicle. Making music with that near-desperate fervor also is maintained on Monkey Business, says will.i.am. “You’re always challenged not to go back to those bad habits in life,” he says. “When you’re comfortable living, you sometimes think that, well, I beat it once so I can do it again. But you never really escape the things that haunt you.”

Thus, making Monkey Business became an effort put forth by all the members of the group – the first the foursome co-wrote together – and the more sophisticated songwriting; the layered grooves of the record and its fulfilled spirit reflect that. “This was really about all of us building a house together,” says will.i.am.

“Don’t Phunk With My Heart” is a gripping soulful serenade that will.i.am describes as a sequel to The Black Eyed Peas song, “Shut Up.” “Not sonically but in subject matter,” he clarifies. “When you’re on bad terms with a significant other, you don’t want to break up. You tell her things and at the time you really mean them. But she’s saying, stop f****ing with me.”

If it sounds like the personal lives of the members infiltrated their songwriting, it is mostly because it did. “Don’t Lie,” is a song will.i.am says was born of true experience of deceptively bending the truth to an ex-girlfriend. “It’s a song about owning up and apologizing and realizing your faults. It’s about being a man or a woman – an adult – and confronting situations honestly.”

Singer Justin Timberlake joins the group again for the song, “My Style.” He first sang on the song, “Where Is The Love?,” the breakout single from Elephunk. “We get along real well,” says will.i.am, “and he sees music in a very similar way. Plus, he’s just a good dude.” The song was produced by famed beat-maker Timbaland. “I like experiencing things I’ve never experienced before,” will.i.am says. “It brings you out of your comfort zone and that can be creatively inspiring. And Timbaland is an incredible talent.”

Other collaborators join The Black Eyed Peas on this album, too, like Sting on “Union.” Neo-folk singer, Jack Johnson is sampled on the song, “Gone Going.” The Peas also got to live something of a dream when they hooked up with the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, for the song, “They Don’t Want Music.”

“That was just stupid, man,” will.i.am says. “Being a fan of hip-hop and knowing that the music’s backbone is based entirely on James Brown – the concept of hitting the beat on the “one,” it’s an otherworldly experience.” The Black Eyed Peas remain one of only a handful of select groups that have been able to collaborate with Funk’s inventor. “We met in the UK, at the Mojo Awards, and we talked about working together. I remember when we recorded; I played him the beat all nervous and everything. We all sat in the room and he nodded his head and grunted in approval.”

That song is reflective of the Peas’ fluid funk that can run from generation to generation – and is one of the reasons why the group is beloved and respected worldwide. “I think the fact that we just have fun with music is the reason why it works for us,” says will.i.am. “We love music and melodies and don’t try to distinguish ourselves from regular music fans. It’s really that simple.”

The use in MP3 of a lossy compression algorithm is designed to greatly reduce the amount of data required to represent the audio recording and still sound like a faithful reproduction of the original uncompressed audio for most listeners, but is not considered high fidelity audio by audiophiles. An MP3 file that is created using the mid-range bit rate setting of 128 kbit/s will result in a file that is typically about 1/10th the size of the CD file created from the original audio source. An MP3 file can also be constructed at higher or lower bit rates, with higher or lower resulting quality. The compression works by reducing accuracy of certain parts of sound that are deemed beyond the auditory resolution ability of most people. This method is commonly referred to as perceptual coding.[1] It internally provides a representation of sound within a short term time/frequency analysis window, by using psychoacoustic models to discard or reduce precision of components less audible to human hearing, and recording the remaining information in an efficient manner. This is relatively similar to the principles used by JPEG, an image compression format.

The term MP3 is actually a reference shortened from the official M(oving) P(icture) E(xperts) G(roup) -1 Audio Layer 3 nomenclature for this lossy digital audio encoding format.

The MP3 audio data compression lossy data compression algorithm takes advantage of a perceptual limitation of human hearing called auditory masking. In 1894, Mayer reported that a tone could be rendered inaudible by another tone of lower frequency.[2] In 1959, Richard Ehmer described a complete set of auditory curves regarding this phenomenon.[3] Ernst Terhardt et al. created an algorithm describing auditory masking with high accuracy.[4] This work added on a variety of reports from authors dating back to Fletcher, and to the work that initially determined critical ratios and critical bandwidths.

In 1983, at the University of Buenos Aires, Oscar Bonello started developing a PC audio card based on bit compression technology. In 1989 he introduced the first working device based on a PC audio card using auditory masking: Audicom.[5]

The psychoacoustic masking codec was first proposed in 1979, apparently independently, by Manfred R. Schroeder, et al..[6] from AT&T-Bell Labs in Murray Hill, NJ, and M. A.Krasner[7] both in the United States. Krasner was the first to publish and to produce hardware for speech, not usable as music bit compression, but the publication of his results as a relatively obscure Lincoln Laboratory Technical Report did not immediately influence the mainstream of psychoacoustic codec development. Manfred Schroeder was already a well-known and revered figure in the worldwide community of acoustical and electrical engineers, and his paper had influence in acoustic and source-coding (audio data compression) research. Both Krasner and Schroeder built upon the work performed by Eberhard F. Zwicker in the areas of tuning and masking of critical bands,[8][9] that in turn built on the fundamental research in the area from Bell Labs of Harvey Fletcher and his collaborators.[10] A wide variety of (mostly perceptual) audio compression algorithms were reported in IEEE’s refereed Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.[11] That journal reported in February 1988 on a wide range of established, working audio bit compression technologies, some of them using auditory masking as part of their fundamental design, and several showing real-time hardware implementations aimed at laboratory experiences. This hardware was never used in PC audio cards.

The immediate predecessors of MP3 were “Optimum Coding in the Frequency Domain” (OCF),[12] and Perceptual Transform Coding (PXFM).[13] These two codecs, along with block-switching contributions from Thomson-Brandt, were merged into a codec called ASPEC, which was submitted to MPEG, and which won the quality competition, but that was mistakenly rejected as too complex to implement. The first practical implementation of an audio perceptual coder (OCF) in hardware (Krasner’s hardware was too cumbersome and slow for practical use), was an implementation of a psychoacoustic transform coder based on Motorola 56000 DSP chips. MP3 is directly descended from OCF and PXFM. MP3 represents the outcome of the collaboration of Dr. Karlheinz Brandenburg, working as a postdoc at AT&T-Bell Labs with Mr. James D. Johnston of AT&T-Bell Labs, collaborating with the Fraunhofer Society for Integrated Circuits, Erlangen, with relatively minor contributions from the MP2 branch of psychoacoustic sub-band coders.

MPEG-1 Audio Layer 2 encoding began as the Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) project managed by Egon Meier-Engelen of the Deutsche Forschungs- und Versuchsanstalt für Luft- und Raumfahrt (later on called Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, German Aerospace Center) in Germany. The European Community financed this project, commonly known as EU-147, from 1987 to 1994 as a part of the EUREKA research program.

As a doctoral student at Germany’s University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Karlheinz Brandenburg began working on digital music compression in the early 1980s, focusing on how people perceive music. He completed his doctoral work in 1989 and became an assistant professor at Erlangen-Nuremberg. While there, he continued to work on music compression with scientists at the Fraunhofer Society (in 1993 he joined the staff of the Fraunhofer Institute).[14]

In 1991 there were two proposals available: Musicam and ASPEC – (Short excerpt on German Wikipedia) (Adaptive Spectral Perceptual Entropy Coding). The Musicam technique, as proposed by Philips (The Netherlands), CCETT (France) and Institut für Rundfunktechnik (Germany) was chosen due to its simplicity and error robustness, as well as its low computational power associated with the encoding of high quality compressed audio.[15] The Musicam format, based on sub-band coding, was the basis of the MPEG Audio compression format (sampling rates, structure of frames, headers, number of samples per frame). Much of its technology and ideas were incorporated into the definition of ISO MPEG Audio Layer I and Layer II and the filter bank alone into Layer III (MP3) format as part of the computationally inefficient hybrid filter bank. Under the chairmanship of Professor Musmann (University of Hannover) the editing of the standard was made under the responsibilities of Leon van de Kerkhof (Layer I) and Gerhard Stoll (Layer II).

A working group consisting of Leon van de Kerkhof (The Netherlands), Gerhard Stoll (Germany), Leonardo Chiariglione (Italy), Yves-François Dehery (France), Karlheinz Brandenburg (Germany) and James D. Johnston (USA) took ideas from ASPEC, integrated the filter bank from Layer 2, added some of their own ideas and created MP3, which was designed to achieve the same quality at 128 kbit/s as MP2 at 192 kbit/s.

All algorithms were approved in 1991 and finalized in 1992 as part of MPEG-1, the first standard suite by MPEG, which resulted in the international standard ISO/IEC 11172-3, published in 1993. Further work on MPEG audio was finalized in 1994 as part of the second suite of MPEG standards, MPEG-2, more formally known as international standard ISO/IEC 13818-3, originally published in 1995.[16]

Compression efficiency of encoders is typically defined by the bit rate, because compression ratio depends on the bit depth and sampling rate of the input signal. Nevertheless, compression ratios are often published. They may use the CD parameters as references (44.1 kHz, 2 channels at 16 bits per channel or 2×16 bit), or sometimes the Digital Audio Tape (DAT) SP parameters (48 kHz, 2×16 bit). Compression ratios with this latter reference are higher, which demonstrates the problem with use of the term compression ratio for lossy encoders.

Karlheinz Brandenburg used a CD recording of Suzanne Vega’s song “Tom’s Diner” to assess and refine the MP3 compression algorithm.} This song was chosen because of its nearly monophonic nature and wide spectral content, making it easier to hear imperfections in the compression format during playbacks. Some jokingly refer to Suzanne Vega as “The mother of MP3″[17]. Some more critical audio excerpts (glockenspiel, triangle, accordion, etc.) were taken from the EBU V3/SQAM reference compact disc and have been used by professional sound engineers to assess the subjective quality of the MPEG Audio formats. It is important to understand that Suzanne Vega is recorded in an interesting fashion that results in substantial difficulties that arise due to Binaural Masking Level Depression (BMLD) as discussed in Brian C. J. Moore’s book on the Psychology of Human Hearing, for instance.

A reference simulation software implementation, written in the C language and known as ISO 11172-5, was developed by the members of the ISO MPEG Audio committee in order to produce bit compliant MPEG Audio files (Layer 1, Layer 2, Layer 3). Working in non-real time on a number of operating systems, it was able to demonstrate the first real time hardware decoding (DSP based) of compressed audio. Some other real time implementation of MPEG Audio encoders were available for the purpose of digital broadcasting (radio DAB, television DVB) towards consumer receivers and set top boxes.

Later, on July 7, 1994 the Fraunhofer Society released the first software MP3 encoder called l3enc. The filename extension .mp3 was chosen by the Fraunhofer team on July 14, 1995 (previously, the files had been named .bit). With the first real-time software MP3 player Winplay3 (released September 9, 1995) many people were able to encode and play back MP3 files on their PCs. Because of the relatively small hard drives back in that time (~ 500 MB) lossy compression was essential to store non-instrument based (see tracker and MIDI) music for playback on computer.

From the first half of 1994 through the late 1990s, MP3 files began to spread on the Internet. MP3’s popularity began to rise rapidly with the advent of Nullsoft’s audio player Winamp (released in 1997), and the Unix audio player mpg123. In 1998, the Rio PMP300, one of the first portable mp3 players was released, despite legal efforts by the RIAA.[18]

In November 1997, the website mp3.com was offering thousands of mp3s for free.[18] The small size of MP3 files enabled widespread peer-to-peer file sharing of music ripped from compact discs, which would have previously been nearly impossible. The first large peer-to-peer filesharing network, Napster, was launched in 1999.

The ease of creating and sharing MP3s resulted in widespread copyright infringement. Major record companies argue that this free sharing of music reduces sales, and call it “music piracy”. They reacted by pursuing lawsuits against Napster (which was eventually shut down) and eventually against individual users who engaged in file sharing.

Despite the popularity of the MP3 format, online music retailers often use other proprietary formats that are encrypted or obfuscated in order to make it difficult to use purchased music files in ways not specifically authorized by the record companies. Attempting to control the use of files in this way is known as Digital Rights Management. Record companies argue that this is necessary to prevent the files from being made available on peer-to-peer file sharing networks. This has other side effects, though, such as preventing users from playing back their purchased music on different types of devices. However, the audio content of these files can usually be converted into an unencrypted format. For instance, users are often allowed to burn files to audio CD, which requires conversion to an unencrypted audio format. Also, there are software and hardware solutions available that allow the user to record anything they can play.

Unauthorized MP3 file sharing continues on next-generation peer-to-peer networks. Some authorized services, such as Beatport, Bleep, Xiie.net, Juno Records, eMusic, and Amazon.com have begun selling unrestricted music in the MP3 format.

The MPEG-1 standard does not include a precise specification for an MP3 encoder, but does provide example psychoacoustic models, rate loop, and the like in the non-normative part of the original standard. At the present, these suggested implementations are quite dated. Implementers of the standard were supposed to devise their own algorithms suitable for removing parts of the information in the raw audio (or rather its MDCT representation in the frequency domain). During encoding, 576 time-domain samples are taken and are transformed to 576 frequency-domain samples. If there is a transient, 192 samples are taken instead of 576. This is done to limit the temporal spread of quantization noise accompanying the transient. (See psychoacoustics.)

As a result, there are many different MP3 encoders available, each producing files of differing quality. Comparisons are widely available, so it is easy for a prospective user of an encoder to research the best choice. It must be kept in mind that an encoder that is proficient at encoding at higher bit rates (such as LAME) is not necessarily as good at lower bit rates.

Decoding, on the other hand, is carefully defined in the standard. Most decoders are “bitstream compliant”, which means that the decompressed output – that they produce from a given MP3 file – will be the same (within a specified degree of rounding tolerance) as the output specified mathematically in the ISO/IEC standard document (ISO/IEC 11172-3).

The MP3 file has a standard format, which is a frame that consists of 384, 576, or 1152 samples (depends on MPEG version and layer), and all the frames have associated header information (32 bits) and side information (9, 17, or 32 bytes, depending on MPEG version and stereo/mono). The header and side information help the decoder to decode the associated Huffman encoded data correctly.

Therefore, comparison of decoders is usually based on how computationally efficient they are (i.e., how much memory or CPU time they use in the decoding process).

When performing lossy audio encoding, such as creating an MP3 file, there is a trade-off between the amount of space used and the sound quality of the result. Typically, the creator is allowed to set a bit rate, which specifies how many kilobits the file may use per second of audio, as in when ripping a compact disc to MP3 format. Using a lower bit rate provides a relatively lower audio quality and produces a smaller file size. Likewise, using a higher bit rate outputs a higher quality audio, but also results in a larger file.

Files encoded with a lower bit rate will generally play back at a lower quality. With too low a bit rate, “compression artifacts” (i.e., sounds that were not present in the original recording) may be audible in the reproduction. Some audio is hard to compress because of its randomness and sharp attacks. When this type of audio is compressed, artifacts such as ringing or pre-echo are usually heard. A sample of applause compressed with a relatively low bit rate provides a good example of compression artifacts.

Besides the bit rate of an encoded piece of audio, the quality of MP3 files also depends on the quality of the encoder itself, and the difficulty of the signal being encoded. As the MP3 standard allows quite a bit of freedom with encoding algorithms, different encoders may feature quite different quality, even with identical bit rates. As an example, in a public listening test featuring two different MP3 encoders at about 128 kbit/s,[19] one scored 3.66 on a 1–5 scale, while the other scored only 2.22.

Quality is dependent on the choice of encoder and encoding parameters.[20] However, in 1998, MP3 at 128 kbit/s was only providing quality equivalent to HE-AAC at 64 kbit/s and MP2 at 192 kbit/s.[21]

The simplest type of MP3 file uses one bit rate for the entire file — this is known as Constant Bit Rate (CBR) encoding. Using a constant bit rate makes encoding simpler and faster. However, it is also possible to create files where the bit rate changes throughout the file. These are known as Variable Bit Rate (VBR) files. The idea behind this is that, in any piece of audio, some parts will be much easier to compress, such as silence or music containing only a few instruments, while others will be more difficult to compress. So, the overall quality of the file may be increased by using a lower bit rate for the less complex passages and a higher one for the more complex parts. With some encoders, it is possible to specify a given quality, and the encoder will vary the bit rate accordingly. Users who know a particular “quality setting” that is transparent to their ears can use this value when encoding all of their music, and not need to worry about performing personal listening tests on each piece of music to determine the correct bit rate.

In a listening test, MP3 encoders at low bit rates performed significantly worse than those using more modern compression methods (such as AAC). In a 2004 public listening test at 32 kbit/s,[22] the LAME MP3 encoder scored only 1.79/5 — behind all modern encoders — with Nero Digital HE AAC scoring 3.30/5.

Perceived quality can be influenced by listening environment (ambient noise), listener attention, and listener training and in most cases by listener audio equipment (such as sound cards, speakers and headphones).

Several bit rates are specified in the MPEG-1 Layer 3 standard: 32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 80, 96, 112, 128, 144, 160, 192, 224, 256 and 320 kbit/s, and the available sampling frequencies are 32, 44.1 and 48 kHz. A sample rate of 44.1 kHz is almost always used, because this is also used for CD audio, the main source used for creating MP3 files. A greater variety of bit rates are used on the Internet. 128 kbit/s is the most common, because it typically offers adequate audio quality in a relatively small space. 192 kbit/s is often used by those who notice artifacts at lower bit rates. As the Internet bandwidth availability and hard drive sizes have increased, 128 kbit/s bit rate files are slowly being replaced with higher bit rates like 192 kbit/s, with some being encoded up to MP3’s maximum of 320 kbit/s. It is unlikely that higher bit rates will be popular with any lossy audio codec because file sizes at higher bit rates approach those of lossless codecs such as FLAC.

By contrast, uncompressed audio as stored on a compact disc has a bit rate of 1,411.2 kbit/s (16 bits/sample × 44100 samples/second × 2 channels / 1000 bits/kilobit).

Some additional bit rates and sample rates were made available in the MPEG-2 and the (unofficial) MPEG-2.5 standards: bit rates of 8, 16, 24, and 144 kbit/s and sample rates of 8, 11.025, 12, 16, 22.05 and 24 kHz.

Non-standard bit rates up to 640 kbit/s can be achieved with the LAME encoder and the freeformat option, although few MP3 players can play those files. According to the ISO standard, decoders are only required to be able to decode streams up to 320 kbit/s.

A large number of different organizations have claimed ownership of patents necessary to implement MP3 (decoding or encoding). These different claims have led to a number of legal threats and actions from a variety of sources, resulting in uncertainty about what is necessary to legally create products with MP3 support in countries where those patents are valid.

The various patents claimed to cover MP3 by different patent-holders have many different expiration dates, ranging from 2007 to 2017 in the U.S.[24] The initial near-complete MPEG-1 standard (parts 1,2,3) was publicly available in December 6, 1991 as ISO CD 11172. [25][26] Since US patents must be filed no later than a year after publication, some of the later patents are questionable, and MP3 may be patent free in the US by December of 2012.[27]

Thomson Consumer Electronics claims to control MP3 licensing of the MPEG-1/2 Layer 3 patents in many countries, including the United States, Japan, Canada and EU countries.[28] Thomson has been actively enforcing these patents.

For current information about Fraunhofer IIS and Thomson’s patent portfolio and licensing terms and fees see their website mp3licensing.com. MP3 license revenues generated about €100 million for the Fraunhofer Society in 2005.[29]

In September 1998, the Fraunhofer Institute sent a letter to several developers of MP3 software stating that a license was required to “distribute and/or sell decoders and/or encoders”. The letter claimed that unlicensed products “infringe the patent rights of Fraunhofer and Thomson. To make, sell and/or distribute products using the [MPEG Layer-3] standard and thus our patents, you need to obtain a license under these patents from us.”[30]

These patent issues significantly slowed the development of licensed MP3 software[citation needed] and led to increased focus on creating and popularizing alternatives such as Vorbis, AAC, and WMA. Microsoft chose to move away from MP3 to its own proprietary Windows Media format to avoid licensing issues associated with these patents.[citation needed] Until the key patents expire, unlicensed encoders and players could be infringing in countries where the patents are valid.

In spite of the patent restrictions, the perpetuation of the MP3 format continues. The reasons for this appear to be the network effects caused by:

* familiarity with the format,
* the large quantity of music now available in the MP3 format,
* the wide variety of existing software and hardware that takes advantage of the file format,
* the lack of DRM restrictions, which makes MP3 files easy to edit, copy and play in different portable digital players (Samsung, Apple, Creative, etc.),
* the majority of home users not knowing or not caring about the patent’s controversy, who often do not consider such legal issues in choosing their music format for personal use.

Additionally, patent holders declined to enforce license fees on free and open source decoders, which allows many free MP3 decoders to develop.[31] Furthermore, while attempts have been made to discourage distribution of encoder binaries, Thomson has stated that individuals who use free MP3 encoders are not allowed to license MP3.[clarification needed] Thus, while patent fees have been an issue for companies that attempt to use MP3, they have not meaningfully impacted users, which allows the format to grow in popularity.

Sisvel S.p.A. and its U.S. subsidiary Audio MPEG, Inc. previously sued Thomson for patent infringement on MP3 technology,[32] but those disputes were resolved in November 2005 with Sisvel granting Thomson a license to their patents. Motorola also recently signed with Audio MPEG to license MP3-related patents.

In September 2006 German officials seized MP3 players from SanDisk’s booth at the IFA show in Berlin after an Italian patents firm won an injunction on behalf of Sisvel against SanDisk in a dispute over licencing rights. The injunction was later reversed by a Berlin judge;[33] but that reversal was in turn blocked the same day by another judge from the same court, “bringing the Patent Wild West to Germany” in the words of one commentator.[34]

On February 16, 2007, Texas MP3 Technologies sued Apple, Samsung Electronics and Sandisk with a patent-infringement lawsuit regarding portable MP3 players. The suit was filed in Marshall, Texas; this is a common location for patent infringement suits due to speedy trials. Texas MP3 Technologies claimed infringement with U.S. patent 7,065,417, awarded in June 2006 to multimedia chip-maker SigmaTel, covering “an MPEG portable sound reproducing system and a method for reproducing sound data compressed using the MPEG method.”[35]

Alcatel-Lucent also claims ownership of several patents relating to MP3 encoding and compression, inherited from AT&T-Bell Labs. In November 2006, (prior to the companies’ merger) Alcatel filed a lawsuit against Microsoft (see Alcatel-Lucent v. Microsoft), alleging infringement of seven of its patents. On February 23, 2007 a San Diego jury awarded Alcatel-Lucent a record-breaking US$1.52 billion in damages.[36] The judge, however, undid the jury verdict and ruled for Microsoft,[37] and this ruling was upheld by the court of appeals.[38] The appeals court actually ruled that Fraunhofer was a co-owner of one patent clamed to be owned by Alcatel-Lucent, due to work by James D. Johnston while Dr. Brandenburg worked at AT&T.

In short, with Thomson, Fraunhofer IIS, Sisvel (and its U.S. subsidiary Audio MPEG), Texas MP3 Technologies, and Alcatel-Lucent all claiming legal control of relevant MP3 patents related to decoders, the legal status of MP3 remains unclear in countries where those patents are valid.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3