The MP3 format is officially dead
If you grew up in the 90s and early 2000s, you probably still remember downloading MP3 files to build your music collection, and burning up to 10 times as many of these onto audio discs than you could with traditional CD tracks. I didn’t just remind you of MP3s to make you feel old first thing on a Monday morning; I also wanted you to know that the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits – the German agency that invented the audio format and licenses some patents for it – has officially terminated its licensing program. This doesn’t mean that MP3s stored on your hard drive will stop working, but don’t expect to see many new devices professing support for the format from here on out. For many music fans, myself included, the MP3 holds a deeper meaning than just a file format. Growing up in India as a 90s kid, western music simply wasn’t as accessible through my childhood and teen years as it is today. So what’s a kid to do when they’re hunting for new rock releases and genre