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Ogg Vorbis music format gets Real 
Friday, July 26 2002
by Andrew McLindon


The popularity of the MP3 format could be under threat, following a decision by
RealNetworks to take the open source path in the streaming music sector.

RealNetworks has pledged its support to the Xiph.org Foundation's Ogg Vorbis
format and audio codec, or compression formula. RealNetworks said it will
integrate the open source format into its Helix DNA Client, and that the RealOne
Player and the Helix Universal Server would play and serve Ogg Vorbis.







Following RealNetworks' move, people will be able to play Ogg Vorbis content
through RealPlayer without having to download special Ogg Vorbis software.
RealNetworks claims there are 285 million unique registered users of the RealOne
Player and RealPlayer.







It is generally thought that RealNetworks decided on this new position because of
the growing threat to its market share from Microsoft. The software giant has
been eroding RealNetworks' lead in the sector by giving away its Media Player
software and server products as both companies fight it out to provide the basic
technology infrastructure for the on-line distribution of audio and video. Recent
figures from NetRating show that RealMedia reached 17 million at-home viewers in
April, compared to Media Player's 15.1 million.







RealNetworks' decision could also impact on the popularity of MP3 and other
proprietary audio formats such as Windows Media. MP3 has practically become the
standard for trading and downloading audios over and from the Internet thanks to
its small file sizes and high quality. However, the format is controlled by the
MPEG Consortium, which charges software makers to use its encoders.





Ogg Vorbis, on the other hand, has been developed by a non-profit company and as
such is royalty-free meaning that companies can incorporate the technology into
their software without cost. In addition, Xiph.org Foundation has claimed that it
offers audio quality comparable to, or better than, its proprietary
counterparts.





Ogg Vorbis was officially released in mid-July and its backers believe that it
can take on the likes of MP3 as a result of the deal with RealNetworks. Whether
that becomes a reality or not is difficult to say as users of such technology are
in their millions and Ogg Vorbis is as yet relatively unknown.





"The combination of the Helix DNA client with the Ogg Vorbis audio format is a
huge step forward for the open source community and the world at large," said
Emmett Plant, chief executive officer, Xiph.org Foundation, in a statement. "With
the release of Ogg Vorbis 1.0, the ability to use RealNetworks technology to get
our format into the hands of the masses presents a lot of potential."





RealNetworks and Xiph plan to release Ogg Vorbis plug-ins for the RealOne Player
and the Helix Universal Server. When the plus-ins are completed and have been
tested at RealNetworks, they will put on the RealNetworks AutoUpdate server,
allowing users of RealOne Player and RealPlayer to listen to Ogg Vorbis content.
RealNetworks did not say when this process would be completed.