Original version

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

Witness History

Podcasts

Factual: Life Stories

Factual: History

History as told by the people who were there

History as told by the people who were there.

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service East Asia

Witness History: Invention of the MP3

Documentaries

Invention of the MP3

27/01/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, Invention of the MP3

It took Karlheinz Brandenburg and his team more than a decade to perfect MP3 technology

The MP3 compressed music into a file size that made it easier to transmit. Karlheinz Brandenburg from Germany worked on its development for more then a decade until 1995.

Professor Karlheinz Brandenburg from Germany spent more than a decade developing MP3 technology, which was developed to convert audio into digital form.

He had been working on it since 1982.

It compressed music into a file size that made it easier to transmit, leading to the first MP3 players and fast music sharing.

Laura Jones has been speaking to Professor Brandenburg.

(Photo: Karlheinz Brandenburg wearing headphones, with his team. Credit: Fraunhofer IIC)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Witness History

Invention of the MP3

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

About BBC World Service