Wednesday brought the news that Luis Fonsi‘s hit single ‘Despacito‘ has set the record for the most streamed song of all times. According to folks at Universal, the song (as at Wednesday) has been streamed 4.6 million times across all platform eclipsing the record formerly held by Justin Bieber‘s 2015 song ‘Sorry‘. Interesting, Justin Bieber remix of the song was a factor that shored the streaming of the song among users.
But what does music streaming means?
Mark Harris of Livewire provides some insight.
“Streaming Music, or more accurately streaming audio, is a way of delivering sound without the need to download files of different audio formats. Music services like Spotify, Google Music, and Apple Music use this method to provide songs that can be enjoyed on all types of different devices.”
How does it work?
“Typically, if you want to listen to music or any other type of audio, you need to download an audio file in a format like MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG, or Flac. However, when a streaming delivery method is used then there’s no need to download a complete file first.”
“The basic way that this process works is that the audio file is delivered in small ‘packets“ in order for the data to be buffered on your computer and played pretty much straight away. As long as there is a steady stream of these packets delivered to your computer, you’ll hear the sound without any interruptions. This method of listening to music is particularly useful for situations that need instantaneous delivery, such as live broadcasts or music services that typically provide 30-second music clips before you buy.”
