As we know most popular format of digital music is mp3. It's understanding, because one mp3 file size is not too big, and quality of sound is at acceptable level. But mp3s isn't one and only format.
Not very much known, but much better than mp3 is OGG. We can get this format in easy way. We need only CD record to rip music by some program, for example - foobar2k. OGG weight more than mp3s, but sound quality is much better and bitrate is higher. Almost every new portable player has OGG support. If we want same sound quality in digital files as on CD, we can simply rip to loseless format FLAC. This format is perfect for those, who want the best sound quality. Unfortunately, one song in FLAC size is even 50mb. If you want to have music in that format on our portable player, you must read carefully technical specs, because in these days not every player can play FLAC.
Now almost everyone has mp3 player. We can rip music from CDs, but also we can buy songs on Internet, e.g. in iTunes Store or just download from an artist site (legally of course ;) like album "In Rainbows" by Radiohead in 2007, when people can download it and pay how much they like or none). So, what is the future off recording music? Sandisk thinks, that the future is in digital formats and microSD cards. Why? Because they made player with microSD slot and 0mb internal memory - Sansa SlotRadio. They think, that this cards will replace CDs in few years. 
Vinyls is still in use, so what will be with CDs? What will be next? Will they invent something better and more popular than mp3/OGG/Flac?
I think nothing will beat quality of FLAC codec, because it uses lossless compression. But maybe there will be some progress in reducing size of sound files.
ReplyDeleteNice article. Vinyl records and music cassettes (those that you could use with a walkman) aren't digital music sources. The exception were DAT cassettes, which worked on the principle of writing digital data on magnetic tape, but this medium was (and still is) pretty expensive, so it didn't make it too well on the consumer market.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad, but CDs are dying. Really. The music publishing and distribution business is in for a revolution, because less and less consumers find it worthwhile to actually own a physical copy of their music.
There are also music formats which, at least in theory, were slated to take the place of the CD. I'm talking about DVD-Audio and Super Audio CDs (SACD for short). The first one already had managed to "die", the second is still out there, although it still hasn't gotten real momentum in the market, so it's more of a niche medium for audiophiles now. Probably because it's not such a big step-up in sound quality from CDs.
Anyway, my guess is that the future music business will rely mostly on digital distribution, while keeping the physical mediums for collectors.
Another question pops up to mind, what will happen with music stores? Will it be like so, that we go to Empik (for example) with our portable music player (or pendrive), select some albums, plug in the player, pay for the music and go out listening to our new bought albums? I think this is a rather feasible prediction.
My opinions are based on how the music market has changed over the years and also music sales statistics.
s3515:
I'm sure there will be some progress in this regard. The thing with compression is that it involves computational power. The more powerful the devices will be, the better algorithms for digital music storage can we employ :).
I have no idea what will be next, but I’m hoping there will be something and it will be much better. Who knows, maybe students from PJWSTK multimedia faculty will come up with new ideas.
ReplyDeleteI think vinyls are in return but in niche audience, at least they were a little bit ago.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to digital music it's more and more clear that the selling model needs to be changed. Most people use MP3/OGG, iPod or any other MP3 player. Many search through the Internet and download whole albums (taking this matter apart).
Apple's store made a fortune and it's quite easy to use so there's must be something in this.
It's hard to tell what will happen. One good idea and we have new way of making a profit. All in all, it all moves into the Internet.
I also haven't idea what will be next. For me, Digital music is great because, unlike its predecessor it's practically for free :)
ReplyDelete>Vinyls is still in use, so what will be with >CDs? What will be next? Will they invent >something better and more popular than mp3/OGG/>Flac?
ReplyDeleteYes. Sooner or later, but yes they will. It just the matter of time.
I'm great fun of digital music because you can use it on whatever device you want. For me paying for anything else than music is stupid :)
ReplyDeleteThere's also something called APE.
ReplyDeleteNext thing would be hardware encrypted mp3/ogg/flac player
now there is going to be a revolution in sound archivisation. no everybody knows that you can buy external DAC ( thich stands for Digital to Analog Converter ).. When connected to your home hifi it can relly astonish you with improved sound quality. ;o)
ReplyDeleteDigital format is a realy nice way to store large amounts of music tracks, but even if the digital format, in which is stored, is most lossless, it's still worse than classic analog format.
ReplyDelete