Stephanie G. Mathis Making music is easier than ever! Making music has never been easier!
Digital distribution is also available to all. You can sell music on all major platforms and through your music website. Once your album is complete, you can sell it across all major platforms and from your music website (commission-free!).
Bandzoogle’s music feature supports FLAC, WAV, and MP3 audio files. This article will explain the differences and reasons why you might want to choose one format over another.
What is the best MP3 player for me?
The MP3 format of audio files is very popular, and there are many reasons for this. MP3 files are small, portable, and offer great audio quality.
MP3 also supports ID3 tags within audio files. This means that when visitors download your tracks and add them to a media player, they have all the information needed to manage them in their player. This information can include album and track titles, as well as whether the file is part of an album. Album artwork is also available.
The MP3 format compresses your tracks in order to make them smaller. You can add more or less compression, but the final result will be lower-quality audio.
To put it simply, MP3s use a “haircut” to reduce the size of the files.
The lossy compression method is so named because deleted and discarded data cannot be recovered. It changes the file permanently. The MP3 format shrinks the file by removing frequencies—data that many listeners would not notice had been removed.
While you will get smaller files with MP3 than other formats, you will lose audio quality as you compress the file. The file’s sound can be altered if there is a lot of compression.
MP3 allows you to adjust the compression of a file. The ‘bitrate of the file’ is the number of samples per second that are taken. The higher the bitrate (the more information that you record when making your MP3 file), the better quality the file will be.
You can compress the file down to 96kbps. However, most MP3 audio is better at 192kbps. You can also compress the file up to 320kbps, which is close to uncompressed sound quality but still reduces the overall file size.
Almost all media players and devices support PROS. It includes ID3 data and allows you to adjust the bitrate compression for faster streaming or better quality.
CONS: The audio quality will be reduced (relative to the bitrate) to reduce the file size.
IT IS IDEAL FOR ANYONE WHO MAKES MUSIC, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF AUDIOPHILES. It is also a great option if you want to sell your music online.
WAV – An ocean of clarity
The WAV format is a lossless codec for music. This means that no compression is done to the audio. You can provide your customers with a file of ‘as-recorded’ quality.
WAV files are a good choice when it comes to providing the best quality sound for your customers.
When you save a WAV file, the MP3 is not compressed. It is a replica of the original signal (minus any dithering, of course).
Remember that WAV files, despite their excellent audio quality, are much larger than other formats. This is because they are not compressed. This means that you will have to wait longer when uploading tracks, and your customers may also take longer when downloading them, especially if their connection is slow.
Another downside to using WAV is the lack of tagging. The WAV format doesn’t support tagging, like ID3, so it can be difficult for customers to find and manage your files when they add your music to media players.
PROS: No compromises on audio quality. Downloads are as high-quality as possible.
CONS: Larger files mean longer download times. No’meta-tagging’.
IS IDEAL FOR selling beats, licensing to film and television, selling samples, sending stems to mix, and catering to audiophiles. If you’re in the music business, WAV is a great choice!
FLAC – What is FLAC?
While not as popular as MP3, FLAC is becoming more common among listeners and musicians because it offers the same quality audio as WAV but with the portability that MP3s offer.
FLAC is the acronym for “Free Lossless Audio Codec” and is also a compression tool like MP3. However, unlike MP3’s ‘lossy compression,’ which removes information from audio files to reduce their size, FLAC uses audio-specific ‘lossless compression’ algorithms that do not permanently alter audio files to reduce their size.
FLAC is a pretty technical format, but you can think of it as a tent that needs to be prepared for a camping trip. The tent is too heavy to be carried to the campsite fully assembled. (Thanks, but no thanks to WAV) And you don’t need to make holes in it to reduce its size (not good if it rains).
FLAC rolls up your tent for you and puts it into a bag. When you arrive at the campsite, you unroll the tent in its full size with no holes.
FLAC is somewhere between the two other formats. The software/encoder used to create FLAC files will determine their size. However, in general, you can expect FLAC codecs to reduce uncompressed audio files to half their original size.
Even though it is not as small or compact as MP3, FLAC can significantly reduce a file’s size. FLAC is a great way to provide high-quality sound without putting your customers under a lot of download stress.
FLAC has so many advantages; why don’t more people use it? FLAC is a free algorithm, but not all players support it.
Apple iTunes / Music, for example, won’t be able to play FLAC files. They have their lossless compression called ALAC. This means your customers will need a player that supports this format.
Some players support FLAC, such as VLC Player (even Mac users), but you may end up turning off customers who don’t wish to download the files. You can then suggest that they download an app or player that supports their newly purchased music if it is not already on their device.
PROS WAV audio embedded in a large MP3; Meta-tagging audio files.
CONS: Lossless audio isn’t well supported across all devices, media players, and platforms.
IS IDEAL FOR Artists or bands that don’t mind offering an alternative format to ensure their listeners have the best audio experience without having to wait hours for it to be downloaded. This may not be the best option for everyone, but it is still a great alternative!
One louder
Why do we hear the argument that WAV is better than MP3? It can be true in many cases!
WAV provides the highest possible reproduction quality. It’s a better format to use for professional applications. While MP3s work well for general listening, they are not ideal for recording or mixing. WAVs, on the other hand, are perfect for filming, using your music in films, and getting it to your fans.
You can save/render a copy of the song exactly as it was recorded with WAV. You can sell a 24-bit 96kHz exact file if that is what you want. This would allow you to do a couple of things:
It can be converted to MP3 or FLAC in a later mixdown. The source file is better for this conversion.
The clip can be saved as an MP4 file (or another format) and used in the film.
The mixer offers a wider dynamic range, more headroom, and a higher level of mixing.
The cleaner it is, the better for sampling.
It’s more flexible to record with a higher bitrate.
What’s in it For Me?
What format should your website tracks be in?
If you are selling samples, licensing, or sending stems to be remixed/mixed, WAV is your best option. It’s an industry standard file format with full resolution used in many different industries. It’s compatible with any DAW. It’s universal. And it’s the best of all.
If you want to sell music to fans, share your demo, or send it to radio stations or streaming services, FLAC or MP3 is likely to be your best option.
