Term Paper on "MP3 Players Industry"

Term Paper 13 pages (5567 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

MP3 Players Industry

Brief history of the industry

MP3 stands for MPEG-1 Layer-III (or MPEG Audio Layer III) and is recognized as the audio sub-division of the MPEG business model created by ISO- the Industry Standards Organisation and came to be recognized as a valid model in 1992 as a branch of the MPEG-1 norm. Fraunhofer Gesellschaft - FhG is credited to be the company who did pioneering research in the development of MP3 and reserves the crucial patents in respect of the technology. MPEG-1 Layer-III is a compaction format of audio only and is a direct successor of MPEG-1 that is a low-bandwidth video compaction format, the kind that is in use in the Internet and MPEG-2 is a high-bandwidth audio and video compaction that is the norm for DVD technology. It was in Germany where the growth of MP3 began in 1987 at the Fraunhofer Institut Integrierte Schaltungen and named as EUREKA project EU147, Digital Audio Broadcasting - DAB. Prof. Dieter Seitzer of the University of Erlangen who participated in the project and an algorithm was coded which ultimately came to be recognized as the ISO-MPEG Audio Layer-3 norm. (the History of MP3 and how it all began)

During 1997, a software programmer at Advanced Multimedia Products built the AMP MP3 Playback Engine that is considered as the foremost typical MP3 player to appear over the Internet. After some time, a team of ingenious students of the university laced the Amp engine with user-friendly features of the Windows and named it as Winamp. The turnaround came in 1988, when Winamp was accessible to the people as a free music player, hence embarking on the journey of MP3 fad. During the initial part of 1999, the foremost peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing software application was brought about, that took world by storm. (Behind the Files: History of MP3) Sub-pop, a private record brand started in February 1999 to distribute chosen music numbers in the MP3 format. Ever since the initial part of 1999, the recognition of MP3 player has gone up to such a level that most of the companies are offering a deluge of MP3 players in the market with handy MP3 players, the subsequent version of Walkman and Portable CD Mini Disk Players. Web sites related to music are mushrooming all over the Internet doling out free and valid MP3 players and even music that can be bought. (the History of MP3 and how it all began)

Companies and leaders of the industry

Several new outlets and services are teaming up with the already present companies like AOL, Music Match, Napster and Real Networks. Computer manufacturing companies like Dell and Gateway have by now introduced hard-drive-based players, adding their names with likes of Philips and Toshiba and professionals like Creative Labs and Archos as well. (Jupiter Research Forecasts U.S. MP3 Player Shipments to Top 3.5 Million in 2003) MP3 players that can be played on a PC like MacAMP and Winamp have multiplied, giving users the opportunity to download and hear the MP3 files on their computers. The phenomenal success of MP3 players has drawn the leading computer-industry biggies like Microsoft who launched the Windows Media Player and Real Jukebox by Real Networks. Real Jukebox was downloaded a million times in just a span of ten days of its introduction. (From Music Publishing to MP3: Music and Industry in the Twentieth Century)

The amalgamation of iPod device by Apple and its iTunes Store for music downloads has invigorated the music industry. (Jupiter Research Forecasts U.S. MP3 Player Shipments to Top 3.5 Million in 2003) Apple Computer has put up for sale 100 million songs on its iTunes Music Store, the creator of iPod and Mackintosh computer. According to Apple, the figure reinforces its rank as the foremost site used for downloading valid music. (Apple hits 100 million iTunes mark) More than half of the digital player market share belongs to iPod of Apple Computer. Increased number of players and dwindling price of memory are not allowing the prices to go up. (Flash-based players still coming on strong)

Description of the product(s) or service(s) provided by the industry

Audio players with the compression format - also called as MP3 players are arriving into the forefront as falling prices of the handy flash players and increased memory size, the iPod Mini and other tiny form factor handy jukeboxes are available in the market, and increased number of gadgets, together with DVD players and gaming devices having provisions for compressed audio as an added attribute. (MP3 player market to reach €47bn by 2008 - report) With the burgeoning of the MP3 obsession, it did not take time to begin making a complete array of MP3 software. Napster, the groundbreaking application will be reminisced like no other MP3-associated software was created to let anybody with an Internet access to locate and download their chosen songs in a least time. Through linking people, Napster made a virtual group of music enthusiasts. Novel MP3 programmers, CD burners, and MP3 players were made available approximately each week and the MP3 campaign started to snowball. (Behind the Files: History of MP3)

Handy (MP3) music players are definitely the admired gifts during this holiday period. These tiny handy jukeboxes let the users to hear almost the quality of reproduction of a CD while on the move. These jukeboxes are not restricted by the quantity of CDs that can accompany them as opposed to the portable CD players. The Apple iPod is the top ranking hard drive-based MP3 player. The effectiveness of iPod has encouraged a lot of rival brands, consisting of a best offer from the stable of Dell and RioAudio. (Getting a Handle on MP3 Players) Internet Search Engines rendered it simple to locate the particular MP3 files, and handy MP3 players such as the Rio and the Nomad Jukebox to transfer MP3 songs in a tiny handy gadget similar to a Walkman or Discman. (Behind the Files: History of MP3)

The players available nowadays having 32 MB memory space is able to store roughly half an hour of music, stated Grady. Hence the listeners are not able to store even a complete album. The new 64-MB players can store music lasting for an hour recorded at 128 kilobits per second - the criteria for a fair quality of digital recording. The gadgets of Diamond's Rio PMP300 can hold 10 hours of lesser quality recorded content like speech. (Will MP3 Walk Over Walkmans?) Diamond Multimedia stirred up the music industry during October 1998 when it launched the first handy music player, the Rio PMP 300. Diamond has presently come about with its second version of Rio 500. This is the first player to function with either Mac or PC, and the transfer of music coming through a very rapid USB port that is featured in the latest computers. Its tiny shape and preference of fashionable colors presents it as an attractive device. (Rio 500 Player - First Look at a Cool Portable)

Specifically one player, the Archos Jukebox Recorder 20, is really a power-packed one. The Archos is also speedier, compatible with Mac and Windows operating system, features a hard drive that has double the memory space compared to the iPod. With a price tag of $319 as compared to $499 for Apple's 10 GB player, Archos is difficult to compete with. Due to this reason, a few months following the iPod's inaugural offer, the Archos Jukebox became the undisputed leader. The Archos is a good buying deal because of the memory space it offers; the data transfer rate and the associated MusicMatch software. (King of All MP3 Players) a drift towards digital convergence of gadgets is witnessed during 2004. Although a wide array of players are available which requires a CD and HDD brands, devices having flash-memory continue to reign supreme among the handy MP3 player categories. Businesses ascribe this to the slim, tiny and handy design and reasonable price label. (Flash-based players still coming on strong)

Value to the economy of the industry (jobs created, revenues, profits, etc.)

Similar to any industry in the realm of culture functioning in an economy subject to market forces, the responsibility of the music companies is basically to convert its cultural brands into monetary rewards. Sales of MP3 players are going on at a breathtaking speed in the wake of plummeting prices of the devices, integration of MP3 facilities in a vast array of gadgets and the launching of websites offering legitimate music downloads. As per the current market research conducted by IDC, the sales of MP3 gadgets will benefit from nearly a 20% compound annual growth rate in the forthcoming five years and post revenues of $85bn by the year 2008. (iPod faces competition as MP3 player sales boom)

Key success factors of the industry

One important factor for MP3 becoming the reigning audio norm is because of the patent reserved by the original founders ensuring that it can be obtained without any cost for anybody to… READ MORE

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