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The history of recorded music is defined by shifts in medium: from vinyl to cassette, and eventually to the Compact Disc (CD). By the mid-1990s, the CD was the dominant format, offering pristine digital audio. However, the sheer size of CD-quality audio (approx. 10MB per minute) rendered it impractical for transmission over the dial-up internet connections of the era. The solution was the MPEG-1 Audio Layer III, or MP3. This paper posits that 1996 was the "tipping point" year where the format escaped the laboratory and entered the dorm room, fundamentally altering the relationship between the listener, the artist, and the intellectual property holder.

The Fracture of the Physical: The MP3 Revolution of 1996 and the Democratization of Music Distribution