MUSIC SOUK INDEX

Music Formats

Compare the sound, history, strengths and trade-offs of physical and digital ways to hear music.

Grooved analogue discs prized for tactile playback, large-format artwork and collectability.

Durable optical discs that made clean, portable digital audio a worldwide standard.

Compact magnetic tape cartridges built for recording, mixtapes and music on the move.

Owned audio files stored locally, available in compressed and lossless formats.

On-demand music delivered over the internet through subscription and ad-supported services.

Open-reel magnetic tape known for studio heritage, wide tracks and hands-on operation.

A pocket-sized, rewritable magneto-optical format with a devoted second life.

Heavy, brittle discs from the era before the modern vinyl LP.

Continuous-loop cartridges closely associated with in-car listening in the 1960s and 1970s.

A high-resolution optical format using Direct Stream Digital encoding.

High-capacity discs used for lossless stereo, surround and immersive music releases.

Video discs that brought concerts, music videos and surround mixes into home collections.