The MP3 audio file format provides near CD quality sound.  It is very popular for delivering sound over the internet.  (MP3 stands for Motion Picture Experts Group Layer - 3 Audio.)  However, there are many other audio formats that are widely used.  For example the audio files on CD’s are WAV files.  (WAV is not an acronym like MP3.  It was an extension given to this format of audio files as developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft and used extensively by the Windows operating system.)

There are a variety of ways to convert an audio to a MP3 file format from another.  Most computer programs for making CDs on a PC have a program to do this conversion.  It is usually referred to as “RIPing” the file.  Also, the Windows Media Player can do this conversion by choosing the MP3 format when saving a file.