Sound quality suffers as MP3s take over Listening to music is spending time with the sounds you like. It would seem obvious that the sounds you like should sound good. But while there are many marvelous things which have been brought to bear by the digital revolution (access, sharing, portability, discovery, price revolution...) perhaps we should stop for a second to ask what this has meant for sound quality. Has good sound been traded for convenience? We know from research we commissioned here at Universal Music recently that mobile devices - phones, tablets, MP3 players - are now the adult population's most preferred way of listening to music. This, for the first time ever, is ahead of radio, in-car listening, and hi-fi. This shift is most marked in younger age group where for 53 per cent of 16-24s, a mobile device is their listening device of choice. Now, think about the journey of your favourite songs. From artist's head to recording studio where the music will be laboured over, with much care, thought and passion going into the choice of studio, equipment and recording. From there to the mixing and mastering process where the delicate balance of completion is achieved. Fast-forward to the final destination of those songs. It's clear from the aforementioned research that much of it will be listened to on a device where music listening is a feature rather than its sole purpose, on headphones that probably cost few pounds to manufacture. There is a fluke of history which got us here. The industry standard format of MP3 was defined at a time when bandwidth, device memory and technology were at a point which now feel like light years in the past. My first digital device, the Diamond Rio, only held about 40 minutes of music. It seemed mind boggling at the time, but what it offered is mind bogglingly rubbish by current standards. It was only a little over 10 years ago. But it's not all bad news. The incredible rise of Beats by Dre shows that people of all ages are willing to pay a premium for high quality headphones, and iTunes" excellent Mastered for iTunes service has upped the game among the digital retailers. And with higher-end devices like the Sonos range, or Pure's Jongo wireless speakers, we're now in a place where digital music and high quality sound work together. This is the next stage of the evolution of our business and I'm excited about what's around the corner. But while we wait for a few more of the dots to be joined, we will continue to invest in helping our artists makes the best sounding recordings they can, regardless of how or where they might be listened to in the end. As Mike Smith, one of our most successful and respected A&R guys said at our recent Sound event at Abbey Road Studios, "The one thing I won't compromise is the money that we spend on making the record. I always feel every penny you put into making a great record is a penny you don't have to put into marketing. The best marketing tool you can have is a great record. Hallelluja, Brother Mike. Paul Smernicki is Director of Digital at Universal Music