If the record business had been tasked with creating the MP3, it would most likely have come up with “a CD – but a bit smaller”.
I mean, they literally did exactly that with minidiscs.
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Yes, the article was a bit weak on the comparison between the two formats. I think it was attempting to achieve snark, but its dismissal of the impact of vinyl just came across as sneering at the olds (Imaging liking music as an art form, how insufferable, readers.).
And on a completely unrelated note, if anyone didn’t get the final metaphor of the article- watch this:
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If by influential they mean “influential to the destruction of music”, that is 100% correct.
Saying “the MP3 is more influential than vinyl” is basically saying “the internet is more influential than vinyl.” It’s hard to really compare these technologies because they are uniquely of their time, you may as well compare the internet with the printing press, and the printing press with the invention of written language.
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Atrac was developed in 1992 and mp3 in 1993, but was the upgrade om MUSICAM codec tat was designed in 1989. These formats were backed up by broadcasters, becaue analogue television, developed in the 50s was a great feat with vacuum tube technologies but has limitations. So they tried to find othes solutions.
Remember NICAM? Rememer D2-MAC?
So was really important to find a digital compressed audio format for satellite broadcasting.
(and @lectroid)
I think we are family.
Nearly 10,000 tracks in mp3, at least half ripped from CDs, many of which are still in boxes in the attic. Many digitised from vinyl, also still in the attic. And a lot of very old stuff, given that I probably bought little vinyl after some time around the mid-/late-80s
Guilty as charged. Charity shops are a good source of very cheap CDs but you have to browse through a ton of dross to find the occasional nugget.
Recently hooked up my old (1980s) cassette deck (JVC) and it still works just fine, to my Macbook using AudioHijack from Rogue Amoeba. Quite a few of my old cassettes are at last in mp3 format now. 
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Liked, merely for reminding us all of the wonder that was Fred Dibnah
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I loved mods. I had an Amiga so had disks full of that stuff. The demo scene was amazing in the 90s; there was so much innovation to work around the limitations of the hardware!!
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Considering how music as such is more alive than ever, especially live music, I’m going to require some evidence on your side.
No, really. Just how is it killing music if I can discover bands and artists that I never would have head of otherwise? MP3’s from Salon’s music editor back in the 2000s introduced me to a lot of new acts I never heard on radio, and buying directly from the artist became a thing I used. MP3 and its descendants are still the core behind such streaming services as SoundCloud, Apple Music, Spotify, and so on.
I do look forward to your answer, maybe you have some raw data to back up your claim? Something to base it on?
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Hogwash. If anything the mp3 reinvigorated an entire industry by forcing a paradigm shift in the entire way music is consumed and distributed. As a result, now is a better time than ever to be a music fan.
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Destruction of music? The MP3 format didn’t even destroy the music industry or its deep corruption, let alone music itself.
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This is going to turn into a discussion about compression, isn’t it? 
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If it veers off into advocacy for $5k gold-plated audio cables and special gravel to put on speaker wires it’ll be worth it.
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Gravel?! that’s a new one!
Well I got to say, thanks to MP3/streaming I was able to listen to
on my way to work and it made my morning. Otherwise it would’ve taken days to follow up on the recommendation. Probably forgetting the name before arriving at a record store.
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uh oh, i did not need to know how to do this, lol. now i’m thinking about all those mixtapes i made back in the 80s…
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Yep. Some surprises when I relistened to mine, too. Was well worth it.
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I dread ruining the cassettes that weren’t well-labeled. A standalone player would be better to catalog their content, because performing tape extraction in my car seems like a terrible option. A few of my “rescued” tapes (spliced back together) might only work once more, so it’s time to prepare for the worst.
Well you just need a good hi-fi cassette deck, hook it up to your hi-fi or even just (probably) an RCA plugs to 3.5mm jack lead and plug it straight into your PC’s input socket (yes, I’m assuming it has one) and then test a few safe/sacrificial tapes to ensure all is well with the deck, and … off you go.
Ebay may be your friend for a cheap, old, but working cassette deck, but it may pay to ask to hear it play a tape before paying, unless it’s very cheap and you are ok taking a risk. If the motor still works fine, some rubber bits may be worn and result in wowing/fluttering. My two decks were identical but one had much more use over the years and was now no good. The other worked fine.
Go for it!
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