Apple's Choice of AAC Formatting

Research the differences between the MP3 and AAC audio formats, then explain why you think Apple chose the AAC format for music in their iTunes store.



For the general music listener, as long as the music is not screeching, scratching or making any other weird noises, I cannot tell what format the audio file is in. In fact, even if someone were to tell me which was which, I probably still couldn't tell the differences. When it comes to avid music listeners, there are slight differences in the music which can impact the way they hear it. Two types of files for audio formats that iTunes had to choose between were the MP3 format and the AAC audio format. In the end, Apple chose the AAC format. After reading the article posted below, it seems that AAC format was a better choice in general because it had a better quality track and the file actually took up less space. One of the main reasons that the quality of the track is better is because MP3s are a 'lossy' file transfer. This means that when the compression of the file takes place, the track looses some of its quality while it is being transferred. It seems that for the average listener, you will not be able to tell that the MP3 track 'lost' some of its data, but to keep up with Apples reputation of having high quality in everything that they do, they chose AAC format to keep customers happy.