Format at a glance
- Full name
- MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III
- File extensions
- .mp3
- MIME types
- audio/mpeg
- Category
- Audio
- Compression
- Lossy
- Transparency
- Not applicable
- Animation
- Not applicable
- Properties
Suitable tools
What is this format?
MP3 means MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III. An encoder uses psychoacoustic analysis to reduce information expected to be less audible. Those discarded audio details cannot be reconstructed later.
Files may use constant, average or variable bitrate. ID3 tags commonly store title, artist, album, track number and embedded cover artwork.
What is it used for?
- Music files requiring broad device compatibility
- Podcasts, spoken-word programs and voice recordings
- Downloadable audio with limited file size
- Exchange with older players, car stereos and software
Which programs can open it?
- VLC, foobar2000 and many other audio players
- Windows Media Player or Media Player and Apple Music
- Audacity and common audio editors
- All current major web browsers
Support across devices and browsers
System players, browsers and nearly all audio applications support MP3.
Music, QuickTime Player, browsers and editors open MP3 natively.
Current desktop distributions, players and browsers broadly support MP3.
System players, music apps, browsers and messengers play MP3.
Music, Files and browser-based apps support MP3.
Current browsers normally play MP3 directly.
Advantages
- Small files at acceptable listening quality
- Near-universal playback support
- ID3 metadata and embedded covers are widely understood
Disadvantages
- Lossy and unsuitable as a lossless archive master
- Repeated encoding progressively reduces quality
- Newer codecs can be more efficient at the same file size
Comparison with alternatives
FLAC preserves the audio signal losslessly but needs considerably more storage than MP3.
AAC is often more efficient at low and medium bitrates, while MP3 is more compatible with older hardware.
Opus is highly efficient for speech and streaming but is less universal in traditional audio hardware.
LocalFileLab support
MP3 can be decoded locally through the configured media paths.
MP3 output is available with an adjustable bitrate.
Bitrate, sample rate and channels can be adjusted for the desired size and quality.
MP3 can play locally and show a waveform when the browser permits decoding.
Supported tags and existing cover art can be retained or deliberately removed depending on the conversion path.
Related formats
Frequently asked questions
Which MP3 bitrate is suitable for music?
Values from 192 to 320 kbit/s are common for listening. Variable bitrate can allocate data more efficiently to complex sections.
Does saving an MP3 again reduce quality?
Yes. Every lossy re-encoding can remove more information and amplify artifacts already present in the source.
Can MP3 store album artwork?
Yes. An image can be embedded in an ID3 tag when the player and selected conversion path support that tag.