The difference matters. Neuroscientists are beginning to look at how the brain responds to compressed mp3s as opposed to the higher-resolution digital. Early results suggest that with high resolution, the brain's emotional activity is the same as with live music, while less dopamine, the chemical behind such pleasures as sex, is released when the music files are highly compressed. The reasons, however, for the low streaming standard are, these days, commercial (it's cheaper to use less bandwidth and more convenient), not technical.