9 1. ID3 tag version 2.3.0
12 1.1. Status of this document
14 This document is an informal standard and replaces the id3v2.2.0 standard. The
15 informal standard is released so that implementors could have a set standard
16 before a formal standard is set. The formal standard will use another version
17 or revision number if not identical to what is described in this document. The
18 contents in this document may change for clarifications but never for added or
19 altered functionallity.
20 Distribution of this document is unlimited.
24 This document describes the ID3v2.3.0 standard, which is a more developed
25 version of the ID3v2 informal standard (version [:id3v2-00: 2.2.0]), evolved
26 from the ID3 tagging system. The ID3v2 offers a flexible way of storing
27 information about an audio file within itself to determine its origin and
28 contents. The information may be technical information, such as equalisation
29 curves, as well as related meta information, such as title, performer,
33 1. ID3_tag_version_2.3.0
35 1. Status_of_this_document
38 2. Conventions_in_this_document
42 2. ID3v2_extended_header
43 3. ID3v2_frame_overview
49 4. Declared_ID3v2_frames
51 1. Unique_file_identifier
52 2. Text_information_frames
54 1. Text_information_frames_-_details
55 2. User_defined_text_information_frame
59 1. URL_link_frames_-_details
60 2. User_defined_URL_link_frame
62 4. Involved_people_list
63 5. Music_CD_identifier
65 7. MPEG_location_lookup_table
66 8. Synchronised_tempo_codes
67 9. Unsychronised_lyrics/text_transcription
68 10. Synchronised_lyrics/text
70 12. Relative_volume_adjustment
74 16. General_encapsulated_object
77 19. Recommended_buffer_size
79 21. Linked_information
80 22. Position_synchronisation_frame
81 23. Terms_of_use_frame
84 26. Encryption_method_registration
85 27. Group_identification_registration
88 5. The_unsynchronisation_scheme
93 1. Appendix_A_-_Genre_List_from_ID3v1
99 2. Conventions in this document
101 In the examples, text within "" is a text string exactly as it appears in a
102 file. Numbers preceded with $ are hexadecimal and numbers preceded with % are
103 binary. $xx is used to indicate a byte with unknown content. %x is used to
104 indicate a bit with unknown content. The most significant bit (MSB) of a byte
105 is called 'bit 7' and the least significant bit (LSB) is called 'bit 0'.
106 A tag is the whole tag described in this document. A frame is a block of
107 information in the tag. The tag consists of a header, frames and optional
108 padding. A field is a piece of information; one value, a string etc. A numeric
109 string is a string that consists of the characters 0-9 only.
114 The two biggest design goals were to be able to implement ID3v2 without
115 disturbing old software too much and that ID3v2 should be as flexible and
116 expandable as possible.
117 The first criterion is met by the simple fact that the MPEG decoding software
118 uses a syncsignal, embedded in the audiostream, to 'lock on to' the audio.
119 Since the ID3v2 tag doesn't contain a valid syncsignal, no software will
120 attempt to play the tag. If, for any reason, coincidence make a syncsignal
121 appear within the tag it will be taken care of by the 'unsynchronisation
122 scheme' described in section_5.
123 The second criterion has made a more noticeable impact on the design of the
124 ID3v2 tag. It is constructed as a container for several information blocks,
125 called frames, whose format need not be known to the software that encounters
126 them. At the start of every frame there is an identifier that explains the
127 frames' format and content, and a size descriptor that allows software to skip
129 If a total revision of the ID3v2 tag should be needed, there is a version
130 number and a size descriptor in the ID3v2 header.
131 The ID3 tag described in this document is mainly targeted at files encoded with
132 MPEG-1/2 layer I, MPEG-1/2 layer II, MPEG-1/2 layer III and MPEG-2.5, but may
133 work with other types of encoded audio.
134 The bitorder in ID3v2 is most significant bit first (MSB). The byteorder in
135 multibyte numbers is most significant byte first (e.g. $12345678 would be
136 encoded $12 34 56 78).
137 It is permitted to include padding after all the final frame (at the end of the
138 ID3 tag), making the size of all the frames together smaller than the size
139 given in the head of the tag. A possible purpose of this padding is to allow
140 for adding a few additional frames or enlarge existing frames within the tag
141 without having to rewrite the entire file. The value of the padding bytes must
146 The ID3v2 tag header, which should be the first information in the file, is 10
149 ID3v2/file identifier "ID3"
151 ID3v2 flags %abc00000
152 ID3v2 size 4 * %0xxxxxxx
154 The first three bytes of the tag are always "ID3" to indicate that this is an
155 ID3v2 tag, directly followed by the two version bytes. The first byte of ID3v2
156 version is it's major version, while the second byte is its revision number. In
157 this case this is ID3v2.3.0. All revisions are backwards compatible while major
158 versions are not. If software with ID3v2.2.0 and below support should encounter
159 version three or higher it should simply ignore the whole tag. Version and
160 revision will never be $FF.
161 The version is followed by one the ID3v2 flags field, of which currently only
162 three flags are used.
165 a - Unsynchronisation
166 Bit 7 in the 'ID3v2 flags' indicates whether or not unsynchronisation is
167 used (see section_5 for details); a set bit indicates usage.
170 The second bit (bit 6) indicates whether or not the header is followed by
171 an extended header. The extended header is described in section_3.2.
173 c - Experimental indicator
174 The third bit (bit 5) should be used as an 'experimental indicator'. This
175 flag should always be set when the tag is in an experimental stage.
177 All the other flags should be cleared. If one of these undefined flags are set
178 that might mean that the tag is not readable for a parser that does not know
180 The ID3v2 tag size is encoded with four bytes where the most significant bit
181 (bit 7) is set to zero in every byte, making a total of 28 bits. The zeroed
182 bits are ignored, so a 257 bytes long tag is represented as $00 00 02 01.
183 The ID3v2 tag size is the size of the complete tag after unsychronisation,
184 including padding, excluding the header but not excluding the extended header
185 (total tag size - 10). Only 28 bits (representing up to 256MB) are used in the
186 size description to avoid the introduction of 'false syncsignals'.
187 An ID3v2 tag can be detected with the following pattern:
189 $49 44 33 yy yy xx zz zz zz zz
191 Where yy is less than $FF, xx is the 'flags' byte and zz is less than $80.
193 3.2. ID3v2 extended header
195 The extended header contains information that is not vital to the correct
196 parsing of the tag information, hence the extended header is optional.
198 Extended header size $xx xx xx xx
199 Extended Flags $xx xx
200 Size of padding $xx xx xx xx
202 Where the 'Extended header size', currently 6 or 10 bytes, excludes itself. The
203 'Size of padding' is simply the total tag size excluding the frames and the
204 headers, in other words the padding. The extended header is considered separate
205 from the header proper, and as such is subject to unsynchronisation.
206 The extended flags are a secondary flag set which describes further attributes
207 of the tag. These attributes are currently defined as follows
214 If this flag is set four bytes of CRC-32 data is appended to the extended
215 header. The CRC should be calculated before unsynchronisation on the data
216 between the extended header and the padding, i.e. the frames and only the
219 Total frame CRC $xx xx xx xx
223 3.3. ID3v2 frame overview
225 As the tag consists of a tag header and a tag body with one or more frames, all
226 the frames consists of a frame header followed by one or more fields containing
227 the actual information. The layout of the frame header:
229 Frame ID $xx xx xx xx (four characters)
233 The frame ID made out of the characters capital A-Z and 0-9. Identifiers
234 beginning with "X", "Y" and "Z" are for experimental use and free for everyone
235 to use, without the need to set the experimental bit in the tag header. Have in
236 mind that someone else might have used the same identifier as you. All other
237 identifiers are either used or reserved for future use.
238 The frame ID is followed by a size descriptor, making a total header size of
239 ten bytes in every frame. The size is calculated as frame size excluding frame
240 header (frame size - 10).
241 In the frame header the size descriptor is followed by two flags bytes. These
242 flags are described in section_3.3.1.
243 There is no fixed order of the frames' appearance in the tag, although it is
244 desired that the frames are arranged in order of significance concerning the
245 recognition of the file. An example of such order: UFID, TIT2, MCDI, TRCK ...
246 A tag must contain at least one frame. A frame must be at least 1 byte big,
247 excluding the header.
248 If nothing else is said a string is represented as ISO-8859-1 characters in the
249 range $20 - $FF. Such strings are represented as <text string>, or <full text
250 string> if newlines are allowed, in the frame descriptions. All Unicode strings
251 use 16-bit unicode 2.0 (ISO/IEC 10646-1:1993, UCS-2). Unicode strings must
252 begin with the Unicode BOM ($FF FE or $FE FF) to identify the byte order.
253 All numeric strings and URLs are always encoded as ISO-8859-1. Terminated
254 strings are terminated with $00 if encoded with ISO-8859-1 and $00 00 if
255 encoded as unicode. If nothing else is said newline character is forbidden. In
256 ISO-8859-1 a new line is represented, when allowed, with $0A only. Frames that
257 allow different types of text encoding have a text encoding description byte
258 directly after the frame size. If ISO-8859-1 is used this byte should be $00,
259 if Unicode is used it should be $01. Strings dependent on encoding is
260 represented as <text string according to encoding>, or <full text string
261 according to encoding> if newlines are allowed. Any empty Unicode strings which
262 are NULL-terminated may have the Unicode BOM followed by a Unicode NULL ($FF FE
263 00 00 or $FE FF 00 00).
264 The three byte language field is used to describe the language of the frame's
265 content, according to ISO-639-2.
266 All URLs may be relative, e.g. "picture.png", "../doc.txt".
267 If a frame is longer than it should be, e.g. having more fields than specified
268 in this document, that indicates that additions to the frame have been made in
269 a later version of the ID3v2 standard. This is reflected by the revision number
270 in the header of the tag.
272 3.3.1. Frame header flags
274 In the frame header the size descriptor is followed by two flags bytes. All
275 unused flags must be cleared. The first byte is for 'status messages' and the
276 second byte is for encoding purposes. If an unknown flag is set in the first
277 byte the frame may not be changed without the bit cleared. If an unknown flag
278 is set in the second byte it is likely to not be readable. The flags field is
285 a - Tag alter preservation
286 This flag tells the software what to do with this frame if it is unknown
287 and the tag is altered in any way. This applies to all kinds of
288 alterations, including adding more padding and reordering the frames.
290 0 Frame should be preserved.
291 1 Frame should be discarded.
294 b - File alter preservation
295 This flag tells the software what to do with this frame if it is unknown
296 and the file, excluding the tag, is altered. This does not apply when the
297 audio is completely replaced with other audio data.
299 0 Frame should be preserved.
300 1 Frame should be discarded.
304 This flag, if set, tells the software that the contents of this frame is
305 intended to be read only. Changing the contents might break something,
306 e.g. a signature. If the contents are changed, without knowledge in why
307 the frame was flagged read only and without taking the proper means to
308 compensate, e.g. recalculating the signature, the bit should be cleared.
311 This flag indicates whether or not the frame is compressed.
313 0 Frame is not compressed.
314 1 Frame is compressed using [#ZLIB zlib] with 4 bytes for
315 'decompressed size' appended to the frame header.
319 This flag indicates wether or not the frame is enrypted. If set one byte
320 indicating with which method it was encrypted will be appended to the
321 frame header. See section_4.26. for more information about encryption
324 0 Frame is not encrypted.
325 1 Frame is encrypted.
328 k - Grouping identity
329 This flag indicates whether or not this frame belongs in a group with
330 other frames. If set a group identifier byte is added to the frame
331 header. Every frame with the same group identifier belongs to the same
334 0 Frame does not contain group information
335 1 Frame contains group information
338 Some flags indicates that the frame header is extended with additional
339 information. This information will be added to the frame header in the same
340 order as the flags indicating the additions. I.e. the four bytes of
341 decompressed size will preceed the encryption method byte. These additions to
342 the frame header, while not included in the frame header size but are included
343 in the 'frame size' field, are not subject to encryption or compression.
347 The default settings for the frames described in this document can be divided
348 into the following classes. The flags may be set differently if found more
349 suitable by the software.
351 1. Discarded if tag is altered, discarded if file is altered.
355 2. Discarded if tag is altered, preserved if file is altered.
359 3. Preserved if tag is altered, discarded if file is altered.
361 o AENC, ETCO, EQUA, MLLT, POSS, SYLT, SYTC, RVAD, TENC, TLEN, TSIZ
363 4. Preserved if tag is altered, preserved if file is altered.
365 o The rest of the frames.
370 4. Declared ID3v2 frames
372 The following frames are declared in this draft.
374 4.20 AENC [#sec4.20 Audio encryption]
375 4.15 APIC [#sec4.15 Attached picture]
376 4.11 COMM [#sec4.11 Comments]
377 4.25 COMR [#sec4.25 Commercial frame]
378 4.26 ENCR [#sec4.26 Encryption method registration]
379 4.13 EQUA [#sec4.13 Equalization]
380 4.6 ETCO [#sec4.6 Event timing codes]
381 4.16 GEOB [#sec4.16 General encapsulated object]
382 4.27 GRID [#sec4.27 Group identification registration]
383 4.4 IPLS [#sec4.4 Involved people list]
384 4.21 LINK [#sec4.21 Linked information]
385 4.5 MCDI [#sec4.5 Music CD identifier]
386 4.7 MLLT [#sec4.7 MPEG location lookup table]
387 4.24 OWNE [#sec4.24 Ownership frame]
388 4.28 PRIV [#sec4.28 Private frame]
389 4.17 PCNT [#sec4.17 Play counter]
390 4.18 POPM [#sec4.18 Popularimeter]
391 4.22 POSS [#sec4.22 Position synchronisation frame]
392 4.19 RBUF [#sec4.19 Recommended buffer size]
393 4.12 RVAD [#sec4.12 Relative volume adjustment]
394 4.14 RVRB [#sec4.14 Reverb]
395 4.10 SYLT [#sec4.10 Synchronized lyric/text]
396 4.8 SYTC [#sec4.8 Synchronized tempo codes]
397 4.2.1 TALB [#TALB Album/Movie/Show title]
398 4.2.1 TBPM [#TBPM BPM (beats per minute)]
399 4.2.1 TCOM [#TCOM Composer]
400 4.2.1 TCON [#TCON Content type]
401 4.2.1 TCOP [#TCOP Copyright message]
402 4.2.1 TDAT [#TDAT Date]
403 4.2.1 TDLY [#TDLY Playlist delay]
404 4.2.1 TENC [#TENC Encoded by]
405 4.2.1 TEXT [#TEXT Lyricist/Text writer]
406 4.2.1 TFLT [#TFLT File type]
407 4.2.1 TIME [#TIME Time]
408 4.2.1 TIT1 [#TIT1 Content group description]
409 4.2.1 TIT2 [#TIT2 Title/songname/content description]
410 4.2.1 TIT3 [#TIT3 Subtitle/Description refinement]
411 4.2.1 TKEY [#TKEY Initial key]
412 4.2.1 TLAN [#TLAN Language(s)]
413 4.2.1 TLEN [#TLEN Length]
414 4.2.1 TMED [#TMED Media type]
415 4.2.1 TOAL [#TOAL Original album/movie/show title]
416 4.2.1 TOFN [#TOFN Original filename]
417 4.2.1 TOLY [#TOLY Original lyricist(s)/text writer(s)]
418 4.2.1 TOPE [#TOPE Original artist(s)/performer(s)]
419 4.2.1 TORY [#TORY Original release year]
420 4.2.1 TOWN [#TOWN File owner/licensee]
421 4.2.1 TPE1 [#TPE1 Lead performer(s)/Soloist(s)]
422 4.2.1 TPE2 [#TPE2 Band/orchestra/accompaniment]
423 4.2.1 TPE3 [#TPE3 Conductor/performer refinement]
424 4.2.1 TPE4 [#TPE4 Interpreted, remixed, or otherwise modified by]
425 4.2.1 TPOS [#TPOS Part of a set]
426 4.2.1 TPUB [#TPUB Publisher]
427 4.2.1 TRCK [#TRCK Track number/Position in set]
428 4.2.1 TRDA [#TRDA Recording dates]
429 4.2.1 TRSN [#TRSN Internet radio station name]
430 4.2.1 TRSO [#TRSO Internet radio station owner]
431 4.2.1 TSIZ [#TSIZ Size]
432 4.2.1 TSRC [#TSRC ISRC (international standard recording code)]
433 4.2.1 TSSE [#TSEE Software/Hardware and settings used for encoding]
434 4.2.1 TYER [#TYER Year]
435 4.2.2 TXXX [#TXXX User defined text information frame]
436 4.1 UFID [#sec4.1 Unique file identifier]
437 4.23 USER [#sec4.23 Terms of use]
438 4.9 USLT [#sec4.9 Unsychronized lyric/text transcription]
439 4.3.1 WCOM [#WCOM Commercial information]
440 4.3.1 WCOP [#WCOP Copyright/Legal information]
441 4.3.1 WOAF [#WOAF Official audio file webpage]
442 4.3.1 WOAR [#WOAR Official artist/performer webpage]
443 4.3.1 WOAS [#WOAS Official audio source webpage]
444 4.3.1 WORS [#WORS Official internet radio station homepage]
445 4.3.1 WPAY [#WPAY Payment]
446 4.3.1 WPUB [#WPUB Publishers official webpage]
447 4.3.2 WXXX [#WXXX User defined URL link frame]
450 4.1. Unique file identifier
452 This frame's purpose is to be able to identify the audio file in a database
453 that may contain more information relevant to the content. Since
454 standardisation of such a database is beyond this document, all frames begin
455 with a null-terminated string with a URL containing an email address, or a link
456 to a location where an email address can be found, that belongs to the
457 organisation responsible for this specific database implementation. Questions
458 regarding the database should be sent to the indicated email address. The URL
459 should not be used for the actual database queries. The string "http://
460 www.id3.org/dummy/ufid.html" should be used for tests. Software that isn't told
461 otherwise may safely remove such frames. The 'Owner identifier' must be non-
462 empty (more than just a termination). The 'Owner identifier' is then followed
463 by the actual identifier, which may be up to 64 bytes. There may be more than
464 one "UFID" frame in a tag, but only one with the same 'Owner identifier'.
466 <Header for 'Unique file identifier', ID: "UFID">
467 Owner identifier <text string> $00
468 Identifier <up to 64 bytes binary data>
471 4.2. Text information frames
473 The text information frames are the most important frames, containing
474 information like artist, album and more. There may only be one text information
475 frame of its kind in an tag. If the textstring is followed by a termination
476 ($00 (00)) all the following information should be ignored and not be
477 displayed. All text frame identifiers begin with "T". Only text frame
478 identifiers begin with "T", with the exception of the "TXXX" frame. All the
479 text information frames have the following format:
481 <Header for 'Text information frame', ID: "T000" - "TZZZ", excluding "TXXX"
484 Information <text string according to encoding>
487 4.2.1. Text information frames - details
492 The 'Album/Movie/Show title' frame is intended for the title of the
493 recording(/source of sound) which the audio in the file is taken from.
498 The 'BPM' frame contains the number of beats per minute in the mainpart
499 of the audio. The BPM is an integer and represented as a numerical
505 The 'Composer(s)' frame is intended for the name of the composer(s). They
506 are seperated with the "/" character.
511 The 'Content type', which previously was stored as a one byte numeric
512 value only, is now a numeric string. You may use one or several of the
513 types as ID3v1.1 did or, since the category list would be impossible to
514 maintain with accurate and up to date categories, define your own.
516 References to the ID3v1 genres can be made by, as first byte, enter "("
517 followed by a number from the genres list (appendix A) and ended with a
518 ")" character. This is optionally followed by a refinement, e.g. "(21)"
519 or "(4)Eurodisco". Several references can be made in the same frame, e.g.
520 "(51)(39)". If the refinement should begin with a "(" character it should
521 be replaced with "((", e.g. "((I can figure out any genre)" or "(55)((I
522 think...)". The following new content types is defined in ID3v2 and is
523 implemented in the same way as the numerig content types, e.g. "(RX)".
532 The 'Copyright message' frame, which must begin with a year and a space
533 character (making five characters), is intended for the copyright holder
534 of the original sound, not the audio file itself. The absence of this
535 frame means only that the copyright information is unavailable or has
536 been removed, and must not be interpreted to mean that the sound is
537 public domain. Every time this field is displayed the field must be
538 preceded with "Copyright © ".
543 The 'Date' frame is a numeric string in the DDMM format containing the
544 date for the recording. This field is always four characters long.
549 The 'Playlist delay' defines the numbers of milliseconds of silence
550 between every song in a playlist. The player should use the "ETC" frame,
551 if present, to skip initial silence and silence at the end of the audio
552 to match the 'Playlist delay' time. The time is represented as a numeric
558 The 'Encoded by' frame contains the name of the person or organisation
559 that encoded the audio file. This field may contain a copyright message,
560 if the audio file also is copyrighted by the encoder.
565 The 'Lyricist(s)/Text writer(s)' frame is intended for the writer(s) of
566 the text or lyrics in the recording. They are seperated with the "/
572 The 'File type' frame indicates which type of audio this tag defines. The
573 following type and refinements are defined:
578 /3 MPEG 1/2 layer III
580 /AAC Advanced audio compression
581 VQF Transform-domain Weighted Interleave Vector Quantization
582 PCM Pulse Code Modulated audio
585 but other types may be used, not for these types though. This is used in a
586 similar way to the predefined types in the "TMED" frame, but without
587 parentheses. If this frame is not present audio type is assumed to be "MPG".
591 The 'Time' frame is a numeric string in the HHMM format containing the
592 time for the recording. This field is always four characters long.
597 The 'Content group description' frame is used if the sound belongs to a
598 larger category of sounds/music. For example, classical music is often
599 sorted in different musical sections (e.g. "Piano Concerto", "Weather -
605 The 'Title/Songname/Content description' frame is the actual name of the
606 piece (e.g. "Adagio", "Hurricane Donna").
611 The 'Subtitle/Description refinement' frame is used for information
612 directly related to the contents title (e.g. "Op. 16" or "Performed live
618 The 'Initial key' frame contains the musical key in which the sound
619 starts. It is represented as a string with a maximum length of three
620 characters. The ground keys are represented with "A","B","C","D","E", "F"
621 and "G" and halfkeys represented with "b" and "#". Minor is represented
622 as "m". Example "Cbm". Off key is represented with an "o" only.
627 The 'Language(s)' frame should contain the languages of the text or
628 lyrics spoken or sung in the audio. The language is represented with
629 three characters according to ISO-639-2. If more than one language is
630 used in the text their language codes should follow according to their
636 The 'Length' frame contains the length of the audiofile in milliseconds,
637 represented as a numeric string.
642 The 'Media type' frame describes from which media the sound originated.
643 This may be a text string or a reference to the predefined media types
644 found in the list below. References are made within "(" and ")" and are
645 optionally followed by a text refinement, e.g. "(MC) with four channels".
646 If a text refinement should begin with a "(" character it should be
647 replaced with "((" in the same way as in the "TCO" frame. Predefined
648 refinements is appended after the media type, e.g. "(CD/A)" or "(VID/PAL/
651 DIG Other digital media
652 /A Analog transfer from media
654 ANA Other analog media
656 /8CA 8-track tape cassette
659 /A Analog transfer from media
665 /A Analog transfer from media
676 /A Analog transfer from media
679 /A Analog transfer from media
680 /1 standard, 48 kHz/16 bits, linear
681 /2 mode 2, 32 kHz/16 bits, linear
682 /3 mode 3, 32 kHz/12 bits, nonlinear, low speed
683 /4 mode 4, 32 kHz/12 bits, 4 channels
684 /5 mode 5, 44.1 kHz/16 bits, linear
685 /6 mode 6, 44.1 kHz/16 bits, 'wide track' play
688 /A Analog transfer from media
691 /A Analog transfer from media
715 MC MC (normal cassette)
716 /4 4.75 cm/s (normal speed for a two sided cassette)
718 /I Type I cassette (ferric/normal)
719 /II Type II cassette (chrome)
720 /III Type III cassette (ferric chrome)
721 /IV Type IV cassette (metal)
728 /I Type I cassette (ferric/normal)
729 /II Type II cassette (chrome)
730 /III Type III cassette (ferric chrome)
731 /IV Type IV cassette (metal)
737 The 'Original album/movie/show title' frame is intended for the title of
738 the original recording (or source of sound), if for example the music in
739 the file should be a cover of a previously released song.
744 The 'Original filename' frame contains the preferred filename for the
745 file, since some media doesn't allow the desired length of the filename.
746 The filename is case sensitive and includes its suffix.
751 The 'Original lyricist(s)/text writer(s)' frame is intended for the text
752 writer(s) of the original recording, if for example the music in the file
753 should be a cover of a previously released song. The text writers are
754 seperated with the "/" character.
759 The 'Original artist(s)/performer(s)' frame is intended for the performer
760 (s) of the original recording, if for example the music in the file
761 should be a cover of a previously released song. The performers are
762 seperated with the "/" character.
767 The 'Original release year' frame is intended for the year when the
768 original recording, if for example the music in the file should be a
769 cover of a previously released song, was released. The field is formatted
770 as in the "TYER" frame.
775 The 'File owner/licensee' frame contains the name of the owner or
776 licensee of the file and it's contents.
781 The 'Lead artist(s)/Lead performer(s)/Soloist(s)/Performing group' is
782 used for the main artist(s). They are seperated with the "/" character.
787 The 'Band/Orchestra/Accompaniment' frame is used for additional
788 information about the performers in the recording.
793 The 'Conductor' frame is used for the name of the conductor.
798 The 'Interpreted, remixed, or otherwise modified by' frame contains more
799 information about the people behind a remix and similar interpretations
800 of another existing piece.
805 The 'Part of a set' frame is a numeric string that describes which part
806 of a set the audio came from. This frame is used if the source described
807 in the "TALB" frame is divided into several mediums, e.g. a double CD.
808 The value may be extended with a "/" character and a numeric string
809 containing the total number of parts in the set. E.g. "1/2".
814 The 'Publisher' frame simply contains the name of the label or publisher.
819 The 'Track number/Position in set' frame is a numeric string containing
820 the order number of the audio-file on its original recording. This may be
821 extended with a "/" character and a numeric string containing the total
822 numer of tracks/elements on the original recording. E.g. "4/9".
827 The 'Recording dates' frame is a intended to be used as complement to the
828 "TYER", "TDAT" and "TIME" frames. E.g. "4th-7th June, 12th June" in
829 combination with the "TYER" frame.
834 The 'Internet radio station name' frame contains the name of the internet
835 radio station from which the audio is streamed.
840 The 'Internet radio station owner' frame contains the name of the owner
841 of the internet radio station from which the audio is streamed.
846 The 'Size' frame contains the size of the audiofile in bytes, excluding
847 the ID3v2 tag, represented as a numeric string.
852 The 'ISRC' frame should contain the International Standard Recording Code
853 (ISRC) (12 characters).
858 The 'Software/Hardware and settings used for encoding' frame includes the
859 used audio encoder and its settings when the file was encoded. Hardware
860 refers to hardware encoders, not the computer on which a program was run.
865 The 'Year' frame is a numeric string with a year of the recording. This
866 frames is always four characters long (until the year 10000).
869 4.2.2. User defined text information frame
871 This frame is intended for one-string text information concerning the audiofile
872 in a similar way to the other "T"-frames. The frame body consists of a
873 description of the string, represented as a terminated string, followed by the
874 actual string. There may be more than one "TXXX" frame in each tag, but only
875 one with the same description.
877 <Header for 'User defined text information frame', ID: "TXXX">
879 Description <text string according to encoding> $00 (00)
880 Value <text string according to encoding>
885 With these frames dynamic data such as webpages with touring information, price
886 information or plain ordinary news can be added to the tag. There may only be
887 one URL link frame of its kind in an tag, except when stated otherwise in the
888 frame description. If the textstring is followed by a termination ($00 (00))
889 all the following information should be ignored and not be displayed. All URL
890 link frame identifiers begins with "W". Only URL link frame identifiers begins
891 with "W". All URL link frames have the following format:
893 <Header for 'URL link frame', ID: "W000" - "WZZZ", excluding "WXXX" described
898 4.3.1. URL link frames - details
903 The 'Commercial information' frame is a URL pointing at a webpage with
904 information such as where the album can be bought. There may be more than
905 one "WCOM" frame in a tag, but not with the same content.
910 The 'Copyright/Legal information' frame is a URL pointing at a webpage
911 where the terms of use and ownership of the file is described.
916 The 'Official audio file webpage' frame is a URL pointing at a file
922 The 'Official artist/performer webpage' frame is a URL pointing at the
923 artists official webpage. There may be more than one "WOAR" frame in a
924 tag if the audio contains more than one performer, but not with the same
930 The 'Official audio source webpage' frame is a URL pointing at the
931 official webpage for the source of the audio file, e.g. a movie.
936 The 'Official internet radio station homepage' contains a URL pointing at
937 the homepage of the internet radio station.
942 The 'Payment' frame is a URL pointing at a webpage that will handle the
943 process of paying for this file.
948 The 'Publishers official webpage' frame is a URL pointing at the official
949 wepage for the publisher.
952 4.3.2. User defined URL link frame
954 This frame is intended for URL links concerning the audiofile in a similar way
955 to the other "W"-frames. The frame body consists of a description of the
956 string, represented as a terminated string, followed by the actual URL. The URL
957 is always encoded with ISO-8859-1. There may be more than one "WXXX" frame in
958 each tag, but only one with the same description.
960 <Header for 'User defined URL link frame', ID: "WXXX">
962 Description <text string according to encoding> $00 (00)
966 4.4. Involved people list
968 Since there might be a lot of people contributing to an audio file in various
969 ways, such as musicians and technicians, the 'Text information frames' are
970 often insufficient to list everyone involved in a project. The 'Involved people
971 list' is a frame containing the names of those involved, and how they were
972 involved. The body simply contains a terminated string with the involvement
973 directly followed by a terminated string with the involvee followed by a new
974 involvement and so on. There may only be one "IPLS" frame in each tag.
976 <Header for 'Involved people list', ID: "IPLS">
978 People list strings <text strings according to encoding>
981 4.5. Music CD identifier
983 This frame is intended for music that comes from a CD, so that the CD can be
984 identified in databases such as the CDDB. The frame consists of a binary dump
985 of the Table Of Contents, TOC, from the CD, which is a header of 4 bytes and
986 then 8 bytes/track on the CD plus 8 bytes for the 'lead out' making a maximum
987 of 804 bytes. The offset to the beginning of every track on the CD should be
988 described with a four bytes absolute CD-frame address per track, and not with
989 absolute time. This frame requires a present and valid "TRCK" frame, even if
990 the CD's only got one track. There may only be one "MCDI" frame in each tag.
992 <Header for 'Music CD identifier', ID: "MCDI">
996 4.6. Event timing codes
998 This frame allows synchronisation with key events in a song or sound. The
1001 <Header for 'Event timing codes', ID: "ETCO">
1002 Time stamp format $xx
1004 Where time stamp format is:
1006 $01 Absolute time, 32 bit sized, using MPEG frames as unit
1007 $02 Absolute time, 32 bit sized, using milliseconds as unit
1009 Absolute time means that every stamp contains the time from the beginning of the
1011 Followed by a list of key events in the following format:
1014 Time stamp $xx (xx ...)
1016 The 'Time stamp' is set to zero if directly at the beginning of the sound or
1017 after the previous event. All events should be sorted in chronological order.
1018 The type of event is as follows:
1020 $00 padding (has no meaning)
1021 $01 end of initial silence
1033 $0D momentary unwanted noise (Snap, Crackle & Pop)
1035 $0F sustained noise end
1041 $15-$DF reserved for future use
1042 $E0-$EF not predefined sync 0-F
1043 $F0-$FC reserved for future use
1044 $FD audio end (start of silence)
1046 $FF one more byte of events follows (all the following bytes with the
1047 value $FF have the same function)
1049 Terminating the start events such as "intro start" is not required. The 'Not
1050 predefined sync's ($E0-EF) are for user events. You might want to synchronise
1051 your music to something, like setting of an explosion on-stage, turning on your
1053 There may only be one "ETCO" frame in each tag.
1055 4.7. MPEG location lookup table
1057 To increase performance and accuracy of jumps within a MPEG audio file, frames
1058 with timecodes in different locations in the file might be useful. The ID3v2
1059 frame includes references that the software can use to calculate positions in
1060 the file. After the frame header is a descriptor of how much the 'frame
1061 counter' should increase for every reference. If this value is two then the
1062 first reference points out the second frame, the 2nd reference the 4th frame,
1063 the 3rd reference the 6th frame etc. In a similar way the 'bytes between
1064 reference' and 'milliseconds between reference' points out bytes and
1065 milliseconds respectively.
1066 Each reference consists of two parts; a certain number of bits, as defined in
1067 'bits for bytes deviation', that describes the difference between what is said
1068 in 'bytes between reference' and the reality and a certain number of bits, as
1069 defined in 'bits for milliseconds deviation', that describes the difference
1070 between what is said in 'milliseconds between reference' and the reality. The
1071 number of bits in every reference, i.e. 'bits for bytes deviation'+'bits for
1072 milliseconds deviation', must be a multiple of four. There may only be one
1073 "MLLT" frame in each tag.
1075 <Header for 'Location lookup table', ID: "MLLT">
1076 MPEG frames between reference $xx xx
1077 Bytes between reference $xx xx xx
1078 Milliseconds between reference $xx xx xx
1079 Bits for bytes deviation $xx
1080 Bits for milliseconds dev. $xx
1082 Then for every reference the following data is included;
1084 Deviation in bytes %xxx....
1085 Deviation in milliseconds %xxx....
1088 4.8. Synchronised tempo codes
1090 For a more accurate description of the tempo of a musical piece this frame
1091 might be used. After the header follows one byte describing which time stamp
1092 format should be used. Then follows one or more tempo codes. Each tempo code
1093 consists of one tempo part and one time part. The tempo is in BPM described
1094 with one or two bytes. If the first byte has the value $FF, one more byte
1095 follows, which is added to the first giving a range from 2 - 510 BPM, since $00
1096 and $01 is reserved. $00 is used to describe a beat-free time period, which is
1097 not the same as a music-free time period. $01 is used to indicate one single
1098 beat-stroke followed by a beat-free period.
1099 The tempo descriptor is followed by a time stamp. Every time the tempo in the
1100 music changes, a tempo descriptor may indicate this for the player. All tempo
1101 descriptors should be sorted in chronological order. The first beat-stroke in a
1102 time-period is at the same time as the beat description occurs. There may only
1103 be one "SYTC" frame in each tag.
1105 <Header for 'Synchronised tempo codes', ID: "SYTC">
1106 Time stamp format $xx
1107 Tempo data <binary data>
1109 Where time stamp format is:
1111 $01 Absolute time, 32 bit sized, using MPEG frames as unit
1112 $02 Absolute time, 32 bit sized, using milliseconds as unit
1114 Absolute time means that every stamp contains the time from the beginning of the
1117 4.9. Unsychronised lyrics/text transcription
1119 This frame contains the lyrics of the song or a text transcription of other
1120 vocal activities. The head includes an encoding descriptor and a content
1121 descriptor. The body consists of the actual text. The 'Content descriptor' is a
1122 terminated string. If no descriptor is entered, 'Content descriptor' is $00
1123 (00) only. Newline characters are allowed in the text. There may be more than
1124 one 'Unsynchronised lyrics/text transcription' frame in each tag, but only one
1125 with the same language and content descriptor.
1127 <Header for 'Unsynchronised lyrics/text transcription', ID: "USLT">
1130 Content descriptor <text string according to encoding> $00 (00)
1131 Lyrics/text <full text string according to encoding>
1134 4.10. Synchronised lyrics/text
1136 This is another way of incorporating the words, said or sung lyrics, in the
1137 audio file as text, this time, however, in sync with the audio. It might also
1138 be used to describing events e.g. occurring on a stage or on the screen in sync
1139 with the audio. The header includes a content descriptor, represented with as
1140 terminated textstring. If no descriptor is entered, 'Content descriptor' is $00
1143 <Header for 'Synchronised lyrics/text', ID: "SYLT">
1146 Time stamp format $xx
1148 Content descriptor <text string according to encoding> $00 (00)
1152 $00 ISO-8859-1 character set is used => $00 is sync identifier.
1153 $01 Unicode character set is used => $00 00 is sync identifier.
1159 $02 is text transcription
1160 $03 is movement/part name (e.g. "Adagio")
1161 $04 is events (e.g. "Don Quijote enters the stage")
1162 $05 is chord (e.g. "Bb F Fsus")
1163 $06 is trivia/'pop up' information
1165 Time stamp format is:
1167 $01 Absolute time, 32 bit sized, using MPEG frames as unit
1168 $02 Absolute time, 32 bit sized, using milliseconds as unit
1170 Absolute time means that every stamp contains the time from the beginning of the
1172 The text that follows the frame header differs from that of the unsynchronised
1173 lyrics/text transcription in one major way. Each syllable (or whatever size of
1174 text is considered to be convenient by the encoder) is a null terminated string
1175 followed by a time stamp denoting where in the sound file it belongs. Each sync
1176 thus has the following structure:
1178 Terminated text to be synced (typically a syllable)
1179 Sync identifier (terminator to above string) $00 (00)
1180 Time stamp $xx (xx ...)
1182 The 'time stamp' is set to zero or the whole sync is omitted if located
1183 directly at the beginning of the sound. All time stamps should be sorted in
1184 chronological order. The sync can be considered as a validator of the
1186 Newline ($0A) characters are allowed in all "SYLT" frames and should be used
1187 after every entry (name, event etc.) in a frame with the content type $03 -
1189 A few considerations regarding whitespace characters: Whitespace separating
1190 words should mark the beginning of a new word, thus occurring in front of the
1191 first syllable of a new word. This is also valid for new line characters. A
1192 syllable followed by a comma should not be broken apart with a sync (both the
1193 syllable and the comma should be before the sync).
1194 An example: The "USLT" passage
1196 "Strangers in the night" $0A "Exchanging glances"
1198 would be "SYLT" encoded as:
1200 "Strang" $00 xx xx "ers" $00 xx xx " in" $00 xx xx " the" $00
1201 xx xx " night" $00 xx xx 0A "Ex" $00 xx xx "chang" $00 xx xx
1202 "ing" $00 xx xx "glan" $00 xx xx "ces" $00 xx xx
1204 There may be more than one "SYLT" frame in each tag, but only one with the same
1205 language and content descriptor.
1209 This frame is indended for any kind of full text information that does not fit
1210 in any other frame. It consists of a frame header followed by encoding,
1211 language and content descriptors and is ended with the actual comment as a text
1212 string. Newline characters are allowed in the comment text string. There may be
1213 more than one comment frame in each tag, but only one with the same language
1214 and content descriptor.
1216 <Header for 'Comment', ID: "COMM">
1219 Short content descrip. <text string according to encoding> $00 (00)
1220 The actual text <full text string according to encoding>
1223 4.12. Relative volume adjustment
1225 This is a more subjective function than the previous ones. It allows the user
1226 to say how much he wants to increase/decrease the volume on each channel while
1227 the file is played. The purpose is to be able to align all files to a reference
1228 volume, so that you don't have to change the volume constantly. This frame may
1229 also be used to balance adjust the audio. If the volume peak levels are known
1230 then this could be described with the 'Peak volume right' and 'Peak volume
1231 left' field. If Peakvolume is not known these fields could be left zeroed or,
1232 if no other data follows, be completely omitted. There may only be one "RVAD"
1235 <Header for 'Relative volume adjustment', ID: "RVAD">
1236 Increment/decrement %00xxxxxx
1237 Bits used for volume descr. $xx
1238 Relative volume change, right $xx xx (xx ...)
1239 Relative volume change, left $xx xx (xx ...)
1240 Peak volume right $xx xx (xx ...)
1241 Peak volume left $xx xx (xx ...)
1243 In the increment/decrement field bit 0 is used to indicate the right channel
1244 and bit 1 is used to indicate the left channel. 1 is increment and 0 is
1246 The 'bits used for volume description' field is normally $10 (16 bits) for MPEG
1247 2 layer I, II and III and MPEG 2.5. This value may not be $00. The volume is
1248 always represented with whole bytes, padded in the beginning (highest bits)
1249 when 'bits used for volume description' is not a multiple of eight.
1250 This datablock is then optionally followed by a volume definition for the left
1251 and right back channels. If this information is appended to the frame the first
1252 two channels will be treated as front channels. In the increment/decrement
1253 field bit 2 is used to indicate the right back channel and bit 3 for the left
1256 Relative volume change, right back $xx xx (xx ...)
1257 Relative volume change, left back $xx xx (xx ...)
1258 Peak volume right back $xx xx (xx ...)
1259 Peak volume left back $xx xx (xx ...)
1261 If the center channel adjustment is present the following is appended to the
1262 existing frame, after the left and right back channels. The center channel is
1263 represented by bit 4 in the increase/decrease field.
1265 Relative volume change, center $xx xx (xx ...)
1266 Peak volume center $xx xx (xx ...)
1268 If the bass channel adjustment is present the following is appended to the
1269 existing frame, after the center channel. The bass channel is represented by
1270 bit 5 in the increase/decrease field.
1272 Relative volume change, bass $xx xx (xx ...)
1273 Peak volume bass $xx xx (xx ...)
1278 This is another subjective, alignment frame. It allows the user to predefine an
1279 equalisation curve within the audio file. There may only be one "EQUA" frame in
1282 <Header of 'Equalisation', ID: "EQUA">
1285 The 'adjustment bits' field defines the number of bits used for representation
1286 of the adjustment. This is normally $10 (16 bits) for MPEG 2 layer I, II and
1287 III and MPEG 2.5. This value may not be $00.
1288 This is followed by 2 bytes + ('adjustment bits' rounded up to the nearest
1289 byte) for every equalisation band in the following format, giving a frequency
1290 range of 0 - 32767Hz:
1292 Increment/decrement %x (MSB of the Frequency)
1293 Frequency (lower 15 bits)
1294 Adjustment $xx (xx ...)
1296 The increment/decrement bit is 1 for increment and 0 for decrement. The
1297 equalisation bands should be ordered increasingly with reference to frequency.
1298 All frequencies don't have to be declared. The equalisation curve in the
1299 reading software should be interpolated between the values in this frame. Three
1300 equal adjustments for three subsequent frequencies. A frequency should only be
1301 described once in the frame.
1305 Yet another subjective one. You may here adjust echoes of different kinds.
1306 Reverb left/right is the delay between every bounce in ms. Reverb bounces left/
1307 right is the number of bounces that should be made. $FF equals an infinite
1308 number of bounces. Feedback is the amount of volume that should be returned to
1309 the next echo bounce. $00 is 0%, $FF is 100%. If this value were $7F, there
1310 would be 50% volume reduction on the first bounce, 50% of that on the second
1311 and so on. Left to left means the sound from the left bounce to be played in
1312 the left speaker, while left to right means sound from the left bounce to be
1313 played in the right speaker.
1314 'Premix left to right' is the amount of left sound to be mixed in the right
1315 before any reverb is applied, where $00 id 0% and $FF is 100%. 'Premix right to
1316 left' does the same thing, but right to left. Setting both premix to $FF would
1317 result in a mono output (if the reverb is applied symmetric). There may only be
1318 one "RVRB" frame in each tag.
1320 <Header for 'Reverb', ID: "RVRB">
1321 Reverb left (ms) $xx xx
1322 Reverb right (ms) $xx xx
1323 Reverb bounces, left $xx
1324 Reverb bounces, right $xx
1325 Reverb feedback, left to left $xx
1326 Reverb feedback, left to right $xx
1327 Reverb feedback, right to right $xx
1328 Reverb feedback, right to left $xx
1329 Premix left to right $xx
1330 Premix right to left $xx
1333 4.15. Attached picture
1335 This frame contains a picture directly related to the audio file. Image format
1336 is the MIME type and subtype for the image. In the event that the MIME media
1337 type name is omitted, "image/" will be implied. The "image/png" or "image/jpeg"
1338 picture format should be used when interoperability is wanted. Description is a
1339 short description of the picture, represented as a terminated textstring. The
1340 description has a maximum length of 64 characters, but may be empty. There may
1341 be several pictures attached to one file, each in their individual "APIC"
1342 frame, but only one with the same content descriptor. There may only be one
1343 picture with the picture type declared as picture type $01 and $02
1344 respectively. There is the possibility to put only a link to the image file by
1345 using the 'MIME type' "-->" and having a complete URL instead of picture data.
1346 The use of linked files should however be used sparingly since there is the
1347 risk of separation of files.
1349 <Header for 'Attached picture', ID: "APIC">
1351 MIME type <text string> $00
1353 Description <text string according to encoding> $00 (00)
1354 Picture data <binary data>
1359 $01 32x32 pixels 'file icon' (PNG only)
1364 $06 Media (e.g. lable side of CD)
1365 $07 Lead artist/lead performer/soloist
1366 $08 Artist/performer
1370 $0C Lyricist/text writer
1371 $0D Recording Location
1372 $0E During recording
1373 $0F During performance
1374 $10 Movie/video screen capture
1375 $11 A bright coloured fish
1377 $13 Band/artist logotype
1378 $14 Publisher/Studio logotype
1381 4.16. General encapsulated object
1383 In this frame any type of file can be encapsulated. After the header, 'Frame
1384 size' and 'Encoding' follows 'MIME type' represented as as a terminated string
1385 encoded with ISO-8859-1. The filename is case sensitive and is encoded as
1386 'Encoding'. Then follows a content description as terminated string, encoded as
1387 'Encoding'. The last thing in the frame is the actual object. The first two
1388 strings may be omitted, leaving only their terminations. There may be more than
1389 one "GEOB" frame in each tag, but only one with the same content descriptor.
1391 <Header for 'General encapsulated object', ID: "GEOB">
1393 MIME type <text string> $00
1394 Filename <text string according to encoding> $00 (00)
1395 Content description $00 (00)
1396 Encapsulated object <binary data>
1401 This is simply a counter of the number of times a file has been played. The
1402 value is increased by one every time the file begins to play. There may only be
1403 one "PCNT" frame in each tag. When the counter reaches all one's, one byte is
1404 inserted in front of the counter thus making the counter eight bits bigger. The
1405 counter must be at least 32-bits long to begin with.
1407 <Header for 'Play counter', ID: "PCNT">
1408 Counter $xx xx xx xx (xx ...)
1413 The purpose of this frame is to specify how good an audio file is. Many
1414 interesting applications could be found to this frame such as a playlist that
1415 features better audiofiles more often than others or it could be used to
1416 profile a person's taste and find other 'good' files by comparing people's
1417 profiles. The frame is very simple. It contains the email address to the user,
1418 one rating byte and a four byte play counter, intended to be increased with one
1419 for every time the file is played. The email is a terminated string. The rating
1420 is 1-255 where 1 is worst and 255 is best. 0 is unknown. If no personal counter
1421 is wanted it may be omitted. When the counter reaches all one's, one byte is
1422 inserted in front of the counter thus making the counter eight bits bigger in
1423 the same away as the play counter ("PCNT"). There may be more than one "POPM"
1424 frame in each tag, but only one with the same email address.
1426 <Header for 'Popularimeter', ID: "POPM">
1427 Email to user <text string> $00
1429 Counter $xx xx xx xx (xx ...)
1432 4.19. Recommended buffer size
1434 Sometimes the server from which a audio file is streamed is aware of
1435 transmission or coding problems resulting in interruptions in the audio stream.
1436 In these cases, the size of the buffer can be recommended by the server using
1437 this frame. If the 'embedded info flag' is true (1) then this indicates that an
1438 ID3 tag with the maximum size described in 'Buffer size' may occur in the
1439 audiostream. In such case the tag should reside between two MPEG frames, if the
1440 audio is MPEG encoded. If the position of the next tag is known, 'offset to
1441 next tag' may be used. The offset is calculated from the end of tag in which
1442 this frame resides to the first byte of the header in the next. This field may
1443 be omitted. Embedded tags are generally not recommended since this could render
1444 unpredictable behaviour from present software/hardware.
1445 For applications like streaming audio it might be an idea to embed tags into
1446 the audio stream though. If the clients connects to individual connections like
1447 HTTP and there is a possibility to begin every transmission with a tag, then
1448 this tag should include a 'recommended buffer size' frame. If the client is
1449 connected to a arbitrary point in the stream, such as radio or multicast, then
1450 the 'recommended buffer size' frame should be included in every tag. Every tag
1451 that is picked up after the initial/first tag is to be considered as an update
1452 of the previous one. E.g. if there is a "TIT2" frame in the first received tag
1453 and one in the second tag, then the first should be 'replaced' with the second.
1454 The 'Buffer size' should be kept to a minimum. There may only be one "RBUF"
1457 <Header for 'Recommended buffer size', ID: "RBUF">
1458 Buffer size $xx xx xx
1459 Embedded info flag %0000000x
1460 Offset to next tag $xx xx xx xx
1463 4.20. Audio encryption
1465 This frame indicates if the actual audio stream is encrypted, and by whom.
1466 Since standardisation of such encryption scheme is beyond this document, all
1467 "AENC" frames begin with a terminated string with a URL containing an email
1468 address, or a link to a location where an email address can be found, that
1469 belongs to the organisation responsible for this specific encrypted audio file.
1470 Questions regarding the encrypted audio should be sent to the email address
1471 specified. If a $00 is found directly after the 'Frame size' and the audiofile
1472 indeed is encrypted, the whole file may be considered useless.
1473 After the 'Owner identifier', a pointer to an unencrypted part of the audio can
1474 be specified. The 'Preview start' and 'Preview length' is described in frames.
1475 If no part is unencrypted, these fields should be left zeroed. After the
1476 'preview length' field follows optionally a datablock required for decryption
1477 of the audio. There may be more than one "AENC" frames in a tag, but only one
1478 with the same 'Owner identifier'.
1480 <Header for 'Audio encryption', ID: "AENC">
1481 Owner identifier <text string> $00
1482 Preview start $xx xx
1483 Preview length $xx xx
1484 Encryption info <binary data>
1487 4.21. Linked information
1489 To keep space waste as low as possible this frame may be used to link
1490 information from another ID3v2 tag that might reside in another audio file or
1491 alone in a binary file. It is recommended that this method is only used when
1492 the files are stored on a CD-ROM or other circumstances when the risk of file
1493 seperation is low. The frame contains a frame identifier, which is the frame
1494 that should be linked into this tag, a URL field, where a reference to the file
1495 where the frame is given, and additional ID data, if needed. Data should be
1496 retrieved from the first tag found in the file to which this link points. There
1497 may be more than one "LINK" frame in a tag, but only one with the same
1498 contents. A linked frame is to be considered as part of the tag and has the
1499 same restrictions as if it was a physical part of the tag (i.e. only one "RVRB"
1500 frame allowed, whether it's linked or not).
1502 <Header for 'Linked information', ID: "LINK">
1503 Frame identifier $xx xx xx
1504 URL <text string> $00
1505 ID and additional data <text string(s)>
1507 Frames that may be linked and need no additional data are "IPLS", "MCID",
1508 "ETCO", "MLLT", "SYTC", "RVAD", "EQUA", "RVRB", "RBUF", the text information
1509 frames and the URL link frames.
1510 The "TXXX", "APIC", "GEOB" and "AENC" frames may be linked with the content
1511 descriptor as additional ID data.
1512 The "COMM", "SYLT" and "USLT" frames may be linked with three bytes of language
1513 descriptor directly followed by a content descriptor as additional ID data.
1515 4.22. Position synchronisation frame
1517 This frame delivers information to the listener of how far into the audio
1518 stream he picked up; in effect, it states the time offset of the first frame in
1519 the stream. The frame layout is:
1521 <Head for 'Position synchronisation', ID: "POSS">
1522 Time stamp format $xx
1523 Position $xx (xx ...)
1525 Where time stamp format is:
1527 $01 Absolute time, 32 bit sized, using MPEG frames as unit
1528 $02 Absolute time, 32 bit sized, using milliseconds as unit
1530 and position is where in the audio the listener starts to receive, i.e. the
1531 beginning of the next frame. If this frame is used in the beginning of a file
1532 the value is always 0. There may only be one "POSS" frame in each tag.
1534 4.23. Terms of use frame
1536 This frame contains a brief description of the terms of use and ownership of
1537 the file. More detailed information concerning the legal terms might be
1538 available through the "WCOP" frame. Newlines are allowed in the text. There may
1539 only be one "USER" frame in a tag.
1541 <Header for 'Terms of use frame', ID: "USER">
1544 The actual text <text string according to encoding>
1547 4.24. Ownership frame
1549 The ownership frame might be used as a reminder of a made transaction or, if
1550 signed, as proof. Note that the "USER" and "TOWN" frames are good to use in
1551 conjunction with this one. The frame begins, after the frame ID, size and
1552 encoding fields, with a 'price payed' field. The first three characters of this
1553 field contains the currency used for the transaction, encoded according to ISO-
1554 4217 alphabetic currency code. Concatenated to this is the actual price payed,
1555 as a numerical string using "." as the decimal separator. Next is an 8
1556 character date string (YYYYMMDD) followed by a string with the name of the
1557 seller as the last field in the frame. There may only be one "OWNE" frame in a
1560 <Header for 'Ownership frame', ID: "OWNE">
1562 Price payed <text string> $00
1563 Date of purch. <text string>
1564 Seller <text string according to encoding>
1567 4.25. Commercial frame
1569 This frame enables several competing offers in the same tag by bundling all
1570 needed information. That makes this frame rather complex but it's an easier
1571 solution than if one tries to achieve the same result with several frames. The
1572 frame begins, after the frame ID, size and encoding fields, with a price string
1573 field. A price is constructed by one three character currency code, encoded
1574 according to ISO-4217 alphabetic currency code, followed by a numerical value
1575 where "." is used as decimal seperator. In the price string several prices may
1576 be concatenated, seperated by a "/" character, but there may only be one
1577 currency of each type.
1578 The price string is followed by an 8 character date string in the format
1579 YYYYMMDD, describing for how long the price is valid. After that is a contact
1580 URL, with which the user can contact the seller, followed by a one byte
1581 'received as' field. It describes how the audio is delivered when bought
1582 according to the following list:
1585 $01 Standard CD album with other songs
1586 $02 Compressed audio on CD
1587 $03 File over the Internet
1588 $04 Stream over the Internet
1590 $06 As note sheets in a book with other sheets
1591 $07 Music on other media
1592 $08 Non-musical merchandise
1594 Next follows a terminated string with the name of the seller followed by a
1595 terminated string with a short description of the product. The last thing is
1596 the ability to include a company logotype. The first of them is the 'Picture
1597 MIME type' field containing information about which picture format is used. In
1598 the event that the MIME media type name is omitted, "image/" will be implied.
1599 Currently only "image/png" and "image/jpeg" are allowed. This format string is
1600 followed by the binary picture data. This two last fields may be omitted if no
1601 picture is to attach.
1603 <Header for 'Commercial frame', ID: "COMR">
1605 Price string <text string> $00
1606 Valid until <text string>
1607 Contact URL <text string> $00
1609 Name of seller <text string according to encoding> $00 (00)
1610 Description <text string according to encoding> $00 (00)
1611 Picture MIME type <string> $00
1612 Seller logo <binary data>
1615 4.26. Encryption method registration
1617 To identify with which method a frame has been encrypted the encryption method
1618 must be registered in the tag with this frame. The 'Owner identifier' is a
1619 null-terminated string with a URL containing an email address, or a link to a
1620 location where an email address can be found, that belongs to the organisation
1621 responsible for this specific encryption method. Questions regarding the
1622 encryption method should be sent to the indicated email address. The 'Method
1623 symbol' contains a value that is associated with this method throughout the
1624 whole tag. Values below $80 are reserved. The 'Method symbol' may optionally be
1625 followed by encryption specific data. There may be several "ENCR" frames in a
1626 tag but only one containing the same symbol and only one containing the same
1627 owner identifier. The method must be used somewhere in the tag. See section
1628 3.3.1, flag j for more information.
1630 <Header for 'Encryption method registration', ID: "ENCR">
1631 Owner identifier <text string> $00
1633 Encryption data <binary data>
1636 4.27. Group identification registration
1638 This frame enables grouping of otherwise unrelated frames. This can be used
1639 when some frames are to be signed. To identify which frames belongs to a set of
1640 frames a group identifier must be registered in the tag with this frame. The
1641 'Owner identifier' is a null-terminated string with a URL containing an email
1642 address, or a link to a location where an email address can be found, that
1643 belongs to the organisation responsible for this grouping. Questions regarding
1644 the grouping should be sent to the indicated email address. The 'Group symbol'
1645 contains a value that associates the frame with this group throughout the whole
1646 tag. Values below $80 are reserved. The 'Group symbol' may optionally be
1647 followed by some group specific data, e.g. a digital signature. There may be
1648 several "GRID" frames in a tag but only one containing the same symbol and only
1649 one containing the same owner identifier. The group symbol must be used
1650 somewhere in the tag. See section_3.3.1, flag j for more information.
1652 <Header for 'Group ID registration', ID: "GRID">
1653 Owner identifier <text string> $00
1655 Group dependent data <binary data>
1660 This frame is used to contain information from a software producer that its
1661 program uses and does not fit into the other frames. The frame consists of an
1662 'Owner identifier' string and the binary data. The 'Owner identifier' is a
1663 null-terminated string with a URL containing an email address, or a link to a
1664 location where an email address can be found, that belongs to the organisation
1665 responsible for the frame. Questions regarding the frame should be sent to the
1666 indicated email address. The tag may contain more than one "PRIV" frame but
1667 only with different contents. It is recommended to keep the number of "PRIV"
1668 frames as low as possible.
1670 <Header for 'Private frame', ID: "PRIV">
1671 Owner identifier <text string> $00
1672 The private data <binary data>
1676 5. The unsynchronisation scheme
1678 The only purpose of the 'unsynchronisation scheme' is to make the ID3v2 tag as
1679 compatible as possible with existing software. There is no use in
1680 'unsynchronising' tags if the file is only to be processed by new software.
1681 Unsynchronisation may only be made with MPEG 2 layer I, II and III and MPEG 2.5
1683 Whenever a false synchronisation is found within the tag, one zeroed byte is
1684 inserted after the first false synchronisation byte. The format of a correct
1685 sync that should be altered by ID3 encoders is as follows:
1689 And should be replaced with:
1691 %11111111 00000000 111xxxxx
1693 This has the side effect that all $FF 00 combinations have to be altered, so
1694 they won't be affected by the decoding process. Therefore all the $FF 00
1695 combinations have to be replaced with the $FF 00 00 combination during the
1697 To indicate usage of the unsynchronisation, the first bit in 'ID3 flags' should
1698 be set. This bit should only be set if the tag contains a, now corrected, false
1699 synchronisation. The bit should only be clear if the tag does not contain any
1700 false synchronisations.
1701 Do bear in mind, that if a compression scheme is used by the encoder, the
1702 unsynchronisation scheme should be applied *afterwards*. When decoding a
1703 compressed, 'unsynchronised' file, the 'unsynchronisation scheme' should be
1704 parsed first, decompression afterwards.
1705 If the last byte in the tag is $FF, and there is a need to eliminate false
1706 synchronisations in the tag, at least one byte of padding should be added.
1711 Copyright © Martin Nilsson 1998. All Rights Reserved.
1712 This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to others, and
1713 derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it or assist in its
1714 implementation may be prepared, copied, published and distributed, in whole or
1715 in part, without restriction of any kind, provided that a reference to this
1716 document is included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this
1717 document itself may not be modified in any way and reissued as the original
1719 The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be revoked.
1720 This document and the information contained herein is provided on an "AS IS"
1721 basis and THE AUTHORS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
1722 BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT
1723 INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR
1724 A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
1729 [CDDB] Compact Disc Data Base http://www.cddb.com
1731 [ID3v2] Martin Nilsson, "ID3v2_informal_standard".
1733 [ISO-639-2] ISO/FDIS 639-2. Codes for the representation of names of
1734 languages, Part 2: Alpha-3 code. Technical committee / subcommittee: TC 37 / SC
1737 [ISO-4217] ISO 4217:1995. Codes for the representation of currencies and
1738 funds. Technical committee / subcommittee: TC 68
1740 [ISO-8859-1] ISO/IEC DIS 8859-1. 8-bit single-byte coded graphic character
1741 sets, Part 1: Latin alphabet No. 1. Technical committee / subcommittee: JTC 1 /
1744 [ISRC] ISO 3901:1986 International Standard Recording Code (ISRC). Technical
1745 committee / subcommittee: TC 46 / SC 9
1747 [JFIF] JPEG File Interchange Format, version 1.02, http://www.w3.org/Graphics/
1750 [MIME] Freed, N. and N. Borenstein, "Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions
1751 (MIME) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies", RFC 2045, November 1996.,
1752 ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2045.txt
1754 [MPEG] ISO/IEC 11172-3:1993. Coding of moving pictures and associated audio
1755 for digital storage media at up to about 1,5 Mbit/s, Part 3: Audio. Technical
1756 committee / subcommittee: JTC 1 / SC 29 and ISO/IEC 13818-3:1995 Generic coding
1757 of moving pictures and associated audio information, Part 3: Audio. Technical
1758 committee / subcommittee: JTC 1 / SC 29 and ISO/IEC DIS 13818-3 Generic coding
1759 of moving pictures and associated audio information, Part 3: Audio (Revision of
1760 ISO/IEC 13818-3:1995)
1762 [PNG] Portable Network Graphics, version 1.0, http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-png-
1765 [UNICODE] ISO/IEC 10646-1:1993. Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set
1766 (UCS), Part 1: Architecture and Basic Multilingual Plane. Technical committee /
1767 subcommittee: JTC 1 / SC 2, http://www.unicode.org
1769 [URL] T. Berners-Lee, L. Masinter & M. McCahill, "Uniform Resource
1770 Locators (URL).", RFC 1738, December 1994., ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/
1773 [ZLIB] P. Deutsch, Aladdin Enterprises & J-L. Gailly, "ZLIB Compressed
1774 Data Format Specification version 3.3", RFC 1950, May 1996., url:ftp://
1775 ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc1950.txt
1782 8.1. Appendix A - Genre List from ID3v1
1784 The following genres is defined in ID3v1
1832 46. Instrumental Pop
1833 47. Instrumental Rock
1837 51. Techno-Industrial
1867 The following genres are Winamp extensions
1881 92. Progressive Rock
1882 93. Psychedelic Rock
1926 Email: nilsson at id3.org
1934 Email: dirk at id3.org
1937 Alsttersgatan 5 A. 34
1941 Email: johan at id3.org
1942 id3v2.3.0 (last edited 2006-12-18 06:25:16 by DanONeill)