What would be a reason to lower the sampling rate?

Lowering the sampling rate is primarily associated with reducing file sizes for easier storage. When you decrease the number of samples taken per second, the amount of data generated during the recording process is also reduced. This results in smaller file sizes since fewer samples mean less information is required to represent the audio.

A lower sampling rate captures less detail in the audio waveform, which means it significantly impacts sound quality and audio fidelity. As a result, while the audio files are more manageable in terms of storage, the trade-off is that they have less accurate representation of the original sound, potentially leading to a reduction in sound quality and dynamic range. Therefore, the main advantage of lowering the sampling rate is indeed to create smaller, more storage-friendly audio files.