Audio Formats
There are many audio file formats available for distributing podcasts. The "MP3" format is the most commonly used in the industry. The format is supported by just about every portable media player available as well most all software based audio players.
Below is a list of the most common audio formats with a brief description and note on usage. All of the following audio file formats offer high quality sound in a compressed format.
MP3 (MPEG Layer 3)
MP3 is the most commonly supported audio format by most all portable audio players and software based audio players. The format allows for special information to be stored in the audio file called id3 tags. These special tags contain artist information, lyrics and album artwork.
Patent holders declined to enforce license fees on free and open source mp3 decoders. furthermore, individuals who use free and open source MP3 encoders are not required to pay patent fees.
File extensions: .mp3
Vorbis (Ogg)
Vorbis is an open source audio format maintainted by Xiph.Org Foundation. Similar to the MP3 format, Vorbis allows for tags similar to ID3 called comments.
The Vorbis format is unrestricted by software patents. As a result, the format is very popular among open source software developers and is commonly used in gaming applications.
File extensions: .ogg, .ogaWMA (Windows Media Audio)
The WMA is a proprietary audio format developed by Microsoft. The WMA format can support Digital Rights Management (DRM). The WMA format is most commonly found in Microsoft products and select portable media players.
File extensions: .wma
AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)
AAC format was designed to be the successor of the MP3 format. The AAC format can support Digital Rights Management (DRM). Its most popular use is by iTunes for selling audio in its iTunes music store.
No patent licenses are required to distirubte media in the ACC format.
File extensions: .m4a, .aac, .mp4, .m4p, .m4r, 3gp
