The focus of the Musepack file type is reducing file size and improving audio quality when encoding at the same standard bit rate as its competitors. Though still defined as a "lossy" compression type, MPC has beaten MP3, AAC and WMA in listening tests against to tracks encoded at at the same quality level.
One of the advantages of MPC files is the speed at which they can be encoded. Rather than a stand-alone application, most users will install a plug-in or a codec pack into an existing package. The "libmpcdec" is a free codec distributed by the format's developers that enables compatibility for encoding.
There is a list on the Musepack website of software applications that already support the format; as of May 2011 it includes many popular players such as Rockbox, VLC and Mplayer, along with numerous rippers, burners and catalog applications. By installing the plugin pack, compatibility is enabled for even more software, including Winamp and Nero.
The Core Pocket Media Player provides support for MPC files, as does Rockbox. This means the MPC is supported by many PDA devices, Windows CE, Palm OS and DeaDBeeF for Android smartphones.