Archived from ListenSmart.com, November 29, 2003. Historical; not current advice. Software, prices and links are as they were then.
Source: Wayback Machine capture.
More About MP3s
I want to learn more about MP3s
MP3 is a standard audio file format that has been "compressed" allowing it to be downloaded at near-CD quality from the web with ease. Its full name, Motion Picture Experts Group, Audio Layer 3, comes from the International Standards Organization (ISO). Engineers who developed the MP3 format were originally intending to use it as way to compress digital video. What they found was that MP3 was actually a great way for compressing digital audio. The MP3 technology shrinks audio files in such a way that the sound quality is preserved, but the file size is significantly smaller than any regular song file. So after quick download, you can play the song as many times as you want.
(more info on MP3s and other forms of digital music)