Streaming bitrate basics for radio and video

Bitrate is the single number that most affects how your stream reaches listeners, and it is also the one people get wrong most often. Higher is not automatically better.

For audio, 128 kbps in MP3 or AAC is the sweet spot for most music radio: it sounds good on phones, earbuds and car stereos while staying light on mobile data. Talk radio can drop to 64 kbps without anyone noticing. Music purists may want 192 to 320 kbps, but expect listeners on limited data plans to notice.

For video, think in ladders rather than a single number. Encoding a few renditions — say 480p, 720p and 1080p — lets the player adapt to each viewer's connection. A viewer on a weak mobile signal plays the low rendition smoothly instead of buffering on the high one.

The governing principle is to serve the quality your audience can actually use. Adaptive delivery means you rarely have to choose between quality and reach; the player makes that decision per viewer, per second.