Bitrate – A Simple Explanation for Musicians

Raise your hand if you’re a musician who isn’t a big tech person!

My hand just shot up along with hundreds of other people, I’m sure. Today I’m going to break down a complicated, techie term that goes over a lot of musicians heads: Bitrate.

What is Bitrate?

Bitrate (or bit rate) is the term for the number of kilobits per second of the song. Boring stuff if you’re just a musician and don’t care about the tech side, but it can definitely impact your final product so it’s worth noting!

When you work with a studio or session musician, they will record and export their stems at a certain bitrate. 128 kbps is generally what music on the radio sounds like, while iTunes uses 256. Generally, it is recommended to use 160 or higher.

Why is the bitrate important for me to know if I’m not a mixer or producer?

If someone sends you a track in a different bitrate from what you are currently using, it will sound weird. That’s the main reason, and the reason I included it as a term in my book (https://payhip.com/b/9qjd). Many people (myself included, to be honest) don’t bother to ask what bitrate the client wants in the end. I assume you have a standard and I have one, and on the very rare occasions something sounds off, that’s usually a quick fix to get it back on track. I included it here just to make you aware of it and to check there first if an issue arises! You don’t have to be an expert on it (I certainly am not), just be aware of it and know that you might have someone ask what bitrate you’d like.

Your DAW probably gives you the option to record at 16 or 24 bit. I would always do 24, just because 1). higher quality in my opinion and 2). easier to have one standard across the board. People LOVE to debate music stuff like this though so there is no easy answer! Don’t sweat it too much, just know to look there if a problem occurs.

This blog does a good job of breaking down the different results using different bitrates: http://blog.signalleaf.com/blog/2013/12/18/mp3-bit-rates/

So how do you feel now? Are you any more confident about this term? If so, please tweet me and let me know!

Related posts:

Music Stems: How to Send and Receive the Right Files for Your Music Project Dry Stems – A Brief Overview DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) – An Explanation for Songwriters The Beat – A Simple Guide for Beginning Songwriters