There is a huge number of audio file formats. All of them are divided into three categories: uncompressed, with compression, but without loss, as well as compressed formats with loss of quality. The most popular and prevalent of the existing ones is MP3. His popularity he gained due to the small size and support of the vast majority of players. Despite this, it seems that after 24 years of existence for MP3, the last days have come. This was officially announced by the creators of the format from the Fraunhofer Institute.

"Although there are more efficient audio codecs with advanced features available today, MP3 is still very popular among consumers. However, most modern media services, such as streaming, television and broadcasting, use modern ISO-MPEG codecs: the AAC family or, in the future, MPEG-H.

They give more possibilities and higher quality of sound at low bitrates compared to MP3, "said representatives of the Fraunhofer Institute.

April 23 this year expired the validity of all patents for this format. Also, the creators stopped all licensing fees. In addition, on the official website of the Fraunhofer Institute there was a message that they stop supporting MP3.

Of course, MP3 will not disappear, and many users will keep their collections for a long time in this format, but streaming services are becoming more popular, so eventually MP3 will become a part of the story.