1 Informal standard M. Nilsson
2 Document: id3v2.3.0.txt 3rd February 1999
7 Status of this document
9 This document is an informal standard and replaces the ID3v2.2.0
10 standard [ID3v2]. The informal standard is released so that
11 implementors could have a set standard before a formal standard is
12 set. The formal standard will use another version or revision number
13 if not identical to what is described in this document. The contents
14 in this document may change for clarifications but never for added or
15 altered functionallity.
17 Distribution of this document is unlimited.
22 This document describes the ID3v2.3.0, which is a more developed
23 version of the ID3v2 informal standard [ID3v2] (version 2.2.0),
24 evolved from the ID3 tagging system. The ID3v2 offers a flexible way
25 of storing information about an audio file within itself to determine
26 its origin and contents. The information may be technical
27 information, such as equalisation curves, as well as related meta
28 information, such as title, performer, copyright etc.
33 2. Conventions in this document
36 3.2. ID3v2 extended header
37 3.3. ID3v2 frames overview
38 3.3.1. Frame header flags
40 4. Declared ID3v2 frames
41 4.1. Unique file identifier
42 4.2. Text information frames
43 4.2.1. Text information frames - details
44 4.2.2. User defined text information frame
46 4.3.1. URL link frames - details
47 4.3.2. User defined URL link frame
48 4.4. Involved people list
49 4.5. Music CD Identifier
50 4.6. Event timing codes
51 4.7. MPEG location lookup table
52 4.8. Synced tempo codes
53 4.9. Unsychronised lyrics/text transcription
54 4.10. Synchronised lyrics/text
56 4.12. Relative volume adjustment
59 4.15. Attached picture
60 4.16. General encapsulated object
63 4.19. Recommended buffer size
64 4.20. Audio encryption
65 4.21. Linked information
66 4.22. Position synchronisation frame
69 4.25. Commercial frame
70 4.26. Encryption method registration
71 4.27. Group identification registration
73 5. The 'unsynchronisation scheme'
77 A. Appendix A - Genre List from ID3v1
81 2. Conventions in this document
83 In the examples, text within "" is a text string exactly as it
84 appears in a file. Numbers preceded with $ are hexadecimal and
85 numbers preceded with % are binary. $xx is used to indicate a byte
86 with unknown content. %x is used to indicate a bit with unknown
87 content. The most significant bit (MSB) of a byte is called 'bit 7'
88 and the least significant bit (LSB) is called 'bit 0'.
90 A tag is the whole tag described in this document. A frame is a block
91 of information in the tag. The tag consists of a header, frames and
92 optional padding. A field is a piece of information; one value, a
93 string etc. A numeric string is a string that consists of the
99 The two biggest design goals were to be able to implement ID3v2
100 without disturbing old software too much and that ID3v2 should be
101 as flexible and expandable as possible.
103 The first criterion is met by the simple fact that the MPEG [MPEG]
104 decoding software uses a syncsignal, embedded in the audiostream, to
105 'lock on to' the audio. Since the ID3v2 tag doesn't contain a valid
106 syncsignal, no software will attempt to play the tag. If, for any
107 reason, coincidence make a syncsignal appear within the tag it will
108 be taken care of by the 'unsynchronisation scheme' described in
111 The second criterion has made a more noticeable impact on the design
112 of the ID3v2 tag. It is constructed as a container for several
113 information blocks, called frames, whose format need not be known to
114 the software that encounters them. At the start of every frame there
115 is an identifier that explains the frames' format and content, and a
116 size descriptor that allows software to skip unknown frames.
118 If a total revision of the ID3v2 tag should be needed, there is a
119 version number and a size descriptor in the ID3v2 header.
121 The ID3 tag described in this document is mainly targeted at files
122 encoded with MPEG-1/2 layer I, MPEG-1/2 layer II, MPEG-1/2 layer III
123 and MPEG-2.5, but may work with other types of encoded audio.
125 The bitorder in ID3v2 is most significant bit first (MSB). The
126 byteorder in multibyte numbers is most significant byte first (e.g.
127 $12345678 would be encoded $12 34 56 78).
129 It is permitted to include padding after all the final frame (at the
130 end of the ID3 tag), making the size of all the frames together
131 smaller than the size given in the head of the tag. A possible
132 purpose of this padding is to allow for adding a few additional
133 frames or enlarge existing frames within the tag without having to
134 rewrite the entire file. The value of the padding bytes must be $00.
139 The ID3v2 tag header, which should be the first information in the
140 file, is 10 bytes as follows:
142 ID3v2/file identifier "ID3"
144 ID3v2 flags %abc00000
145 ID3v2 size 4 * %0xxxxxxx
147 The first three bytes of the tag are always "ID3" to indicate that
148 this is an ID3v2 tag, directly followed by the two version bytes. The
149 first byte of ID3v2 version is it's major version, while the second
150 byte is its revision number. In this case this is ID3v2.3.0. All
151 revisions are backwards compatible while major versions are not. If
152 software with ID3v2.2.0 and below support should encounter version
153 three or higher it should simply ignore the whole tag. Version and
154 revision will never be $FF.
156 The version is followed by one the ID3v2 flags field, of which
157 currently only three flags are used.
160 a - Unsynchronisation
162 Bit 7 in the 'ID3v2 flags' indicates whether or not
163 unsynchronisation is used (see section 5 for details); a set bit
169 The second bit (bit 6) indicates whether or not the header is
170 followed by an extended header. The extended header is described in
174 c - Experimental indicator
176 The third bit (bit 5) should be used as an 'experimental
177 indicator'. This flag should always be set when the tag is in an
180 All the other flags should be cleared. If one of these undefined
181 flags are set that might mean that the tag is not readable for a
182 parser that does not know the flags function.
184 The ID3v2 tag size is encoded with four bytes where the most
185 significant bit (bit 7) is set to zero in every byte, making a total
186 of 28 bits. The zeroed bits are ignored, so a 257 bytes long tag is
187 represented as $00 00 02 01.
189 The ID3v2 tag size is the size of the complete tag after
190 unsychronisation, including padding, excluding the header but not
191 excluding the extended header (total tag size - 10). Only 28 bits
192 (representing up to 256MB) are used in the size description to avoid
193 the introducuction of 'false syncsignals'.
195 An ID3v2 tag can be detected with the following pattern:
196 $49 44 33 yy yy xx zz zz zz zz
197 Where yy is less than $FF, xx is the 'flags' byte and zz is less than
201 3.2. ID3v2 extended header
203 The extended header contains information that is not vital to the
204 correct parsing of the tag information, hence the extended header is
207 Extended header size $xx xx xx xx
208 Extended Flags $xx xx
209 Size of padding $xx xx xx xx
211 Where the 'Extended header size', currently 6 or 10 bytes, excludes
212 itself. The 'Size of padding' is simply the total tag size excluding
213 the frames and the headers, in other words the padding. The extended
214 header is considered separate from the header proper, and as such is
215 subject to unsynchronisation.
217 The extended flags are a secondary flag set which describes further
218 attributes of the tag. These attributes are currently defined as
226 If this flag is set four bytes of CRC-32 data is appended to the
227 extended header. The CRC should be calculated before
228 unsynchronisation on the data between the extended header and the
229 padding, i.e. the frames and only the frames.
231 Total frame CRC $xx xx xx xx
234 3.3. ID3v2 frame overview
236 As the tag consists of a tag header and a tag body with one or more
237 frames, all the frames consists of a frame header followed by one or
238 more fields containing the actual information. The layout of the
241 Frame ID $xx xx xx xx (four characters)
245 The frame ID made out of the characters capital A-Z and 0-9.
246 Identifiers beginning with "X", "Y" and "Z" are for experimental use
247 and free for everyone to use, without the need to set the
248 experimental bit in the tag header. Have in mind that someone else
249 might have used the same identifier as you. All other identifiers are
250 either used or reserved for future use.
252 The frame ID is followed by a size descriptor, making a total header
253 size of ten bytes in every frame. The size is calculated as frame
254 size excluding frame header (frame size - 10).
256 In the frame header the size descriptor is followed by two flags
257 bytes. These flags are described in section 3.3.1.
259 There is no fixed order of the frames' appearance in the tag,
260 although it is desired that the frames are arranged in order of
261 significance concerning the recognition of the file. An example of
262 such order: UFID, TIT2, MCDI, TRCK ...
264 A tag must contain at least one frame. A frame must be at least 1
265 byte big, excluding the header.
267 If nothing else is said a string is represented as ISO-8859-1
268 [ISO-8859-1] characters in the range $20 - $FF. Such strings are
269 represented as <text string>, or <full text string> if newlines are
270 allowed, in the frame descriptions. All Unicode strings [UNICODE] use
271 16-bit unicode 2.0 (ISO/IEC 10646-1:1993, UCS-2). Unicode strings
272 must begin with the Unicode BOM ($FF FE or $FE FF) to identify the
275 All numeric strings and URLs [URL] are always encoded as ISO-8859-1.
276 Terminated strings are terminated with $00 if encoded with ISO-8859-1
277 and $00 00 if encoded as unicode. If nothing else is said newline
278 character is forbidden. In ISO-8859-1 a new line is represented, when
279 allowed, with $0A only. Frames that allow different types of text
280 encoding have a text encoding description byte directly after the
281 frame size. If ISO-8859-1 is used this byte should be $00, if Unicode
282 is used it should be $01. Strings dependent on encoding is
283 represented as <text string according to encoding>, or <full text
284 string according to encoding> if newlines are allowed. Any empty
285 Unicode strings which are NULL-terminated may have the Unicode BOM
286 followed by a Unicode NULL ($FF FE 00 00 or $FE FF 00 00).
288 The three byte language field is used to describe the language of the
289 frame's content, according to ISO-639-2 [ISO-639-2].
291 All URLs [URL] may be relative, e.g. "picture.png", "../doc.txt".
293 If a frame is longer than it should be, e.g. having more fields than
294 specified in this document, that indicates that additions to the
295 frame have been made in a later version of the ID3v2 standard. This
296 is reflected by the revision number in the header of the tag.
299 3.3.1. Frame header flags
301 In the frame header the size descriptor is followed by two flags
302 bytes. All unused flags must be cleared. The first byte is for
303 'status messages' and the second byte is for encoding purposes. If an
304 unknown flag is set in the first byte the frame may not be changed
305 without the bit cleared. If an unknown flag is set in the second byte
306 it is likely to not be readable. The flags field is defined as
312 a - Tag alter preservation
314 This flag tells the software what to do with this frame if it is
315 unknown and the tag is altered in any way. This applies to all
316 kinds of alterations, including adding more padding and reordering
319 0 Frame should be preserved.
320 1 Frame should be discarded.
323 b - File alter preservation
325 This flag tells the software what to do with this frame if it is
326 unknown and the file, excluding the tag, is altered. This does not
327 apply when the audio is completely replaced with other audio data.
329 0 Frame should be preserved.
330 1 Frame should be discarded.
335 This flag, if set, tells the software that the contents of this
336 frame is intended to be read only. Changing the contents might
337 break something, e.g. a signature. If the contents are changed,
338 without knowledge in why the frame was flagged read only and
339 without taking the proper means to compensate, e.g. recalculating
340 the signature, the bit should be cleared.
345 This flag indicates whether or not the frame is compressed.
347 0 Frame is not compressed.
348 1 Frame is compressed using zlib [zlib] with 4 bytes for
349 'decompressed size' appended to the frame header.
354 This flag indicates wether or not the frame is enrypted. If set
355 one byte indicating with which method it was encrypted will be
356 appended to the frame header. See section 4.26. for more
357 information about encryption method registration.
359 0 Frame is not encrypted.
360 1 Frame is encrypted.
363 k - Grouping identity
365 This flag indicates whether or not this frame belongs in a group
366 with other frames. If set a group identifier byte is added to the
367 frame header. Every frame with the same group identifier belongs
370 0 Frame does not contain group information
371 1 Frame contains group information
374 Some flags indicates that the frame header is extended with
375 additional information. This information will be added to the frame
376 header in the same order as the flags indicating the additions. I.e.
377 the four bytes of decompressed size will preceed the encryption
378 method byte. These additions to the frame header, while not included
379 in the frame header size but are included in the 'frame size' field,
380 are not subject to encryption or compression.
385 The default settings for the frames described in this document can be
386 divided into the following classes. The flags may be set differently
387 if found more suitable by the software.
389 1. Discarded if tag is altered, discarded if file is altered.
393 2. Discarded if tag is altered, preserved if file is altered.
397 3. Preserved if tag is altered, discarded if file is altered.
399 AENC, ETCO, EQUA, MLLT, POSS, SYLT, SYTC, RVAD, TENC, TLEN, TSIZ
401 4. Preserved if tag is altered, preserved if file is altered.
403 The rest of the frames.
406 4. Declared ID3v2 frames
408 The following frames are declared in this draft.
410 4.21 AENC Audio encryption
411 4.15 APIC Attached picture
414 4.25 COMR Commercial frame
416 4.26 ENCR Encryption method registration
417 4.13 EQUA Equalization
418 4.6 ETCO Event timing codes
420 4.16 GEOB General encapsulated object
421 4.27 GRID Group identification registration
423 4.4 IPLS Involved people list
425 4.21 LINK Linked information
427 4.5 MCDI Music CD identifier
428 4.7 MLLT MPEG location lookup table
430 4.24 OWNE Ownership frame
432 4.28. PRIV Private frame
433 4.17 PCNT Play counter
434 4.18 POPM Popularimeter
435 4.22 POSS Position synchronisation frame
437 4.19 RBUF Recommended buffer size
438 4.12 RVAD Relative volume adjustment
441 4.10 SYLT Synchronized lyric/text
442 4.8 SYTC Synchronized tempo codes
444 4.2.1 TALB Album/Movie/Show title
445 4.2.1 TBPM BPM (beats per minute)
447 4.2.1 TCON Content type
448 4.2.1 TCOP Copyright message
450 4.2.1 TDLY Playlist delay
451 4.2.1 TENC Encoded by
452 4.2.1 TEXT Lyricist/Text writer
455 4.2.1 TIT1 Content group description
456 4.2.1 TIT2 Title/songname/content description
457 4.2.1 TIT3 Subtitle/Description refinement
458 4.2.1 TKEY Initial key
459 4.2.1 TLAN Language(s)
461 4.2.1 TMED Media type
462 4.2.1 TOAL Original album/movie/show title
463 4.2.1 TOFN Original filename
464 4.2.1 TOLY Original lyricist(s)/text writer(s)
465 4.2.1 TOPE Original artist(s)/performer(s)
466 4.2.1 TORY Original release year
467 4.2.1 TOWN File owner/licensee
468 4.2.1 TPE1 Lead performer(s)/Soloist(s)
469 4.2.1 TPE2 Band/orchestra/accompaniment
470 4.2.1 TPE3 Conductor/performer refinement
471 4.2.1 TPE4 Interpreted, remixed, or otherwise modified by
472 4.2.1 TPOS Part of a set
474 4.2.1 TRCK Track number/Position in set
475 4.2.1 TRDA Recording dates
476 4.2.1 TRSN Internet radio station name
477 4.2.1 TRSO Internet radio station owner
479 4.2.1 TSRC ISRC (international standard recording code)
480 4.2.1 TSSE Software/Hardware and settings used for encoding
482 4.2.2 TXXX User defined text information frame
484 4.1 UFID Unique file identifier
485 4.23 USER Terms of use
486 4.9 USLT Unsychronized lyric/text transcription
488 4.3.1 WCOM Commercial information
489 4.3.1 WCOP Copyright/Legal information
490 4.3.1 WOAF Official audio file webpage
491 4.3.1 WOAR Official artist/performer webpage
492 4.3.1 WOAS Official audio source webpage
493 4.3.1 WORS Official internet radio station homepage
495 4.3.1 WPUB Publishers official webpage
496 4.3.2 WXXX User defined URL link frame
499 4.1. Unique file identifier
501 This frame's purpose is to be able to identify the audio file in a
502 database that may contain more information relevant to the content.
503 Since standardisation of such a database is beyond this document, all
504 frames begin with a null-terminated string with a URL [URL]
505 containing an email address, or a link to a location where an email
506 address can be found, that belongs to the organisation responsible
507 for this specific database implementation. Questions regarding the
508 database should be sent to the indicated email address. The URL
509 should not be used for the actual database queries. The string
510 "<a href="http://www.id3.org/dummy/ufid.html">http://www.id3.org/dummy/ufid.html</a>" should be used for tests.
511 Software that isn't told otherwise may safely remove such frames. The
512 'Owner identifier' must be non-empty (more than just a termination).
513 The 'Owner identifier' is then followed by the actual identifier,
514 which may be up to 64 bytes. There may be more than one "UFID" frame
515 in a tag, but only one with the same 'Owner identifier'.
517 <Header for 'Unique file identifier', ID: "UFID">
518 Owner identifier <text string> $00
519 Identifier <up to 64 bytes binary data>
522 4.2. Text information frames
524 The text information frames are the most important frames, containing
525 information like artist, album and more. There may only be one text
526 information frame of its kind in an tag. If the textstring is
527 followed by a termination ($00 (00)) all the following information
528 should be ignored and not be displayed. All text frame identifiers
529 begin with "T". Only text frame identifiers begin with "T", with the
530 exception of the "TXXX" frame. All the text information frames have
531 the following format:
533 <Header for 'Text information frame', ID: "T000" - "TZZZ",
534 excluding "TXXX" described in 4.2.2.>
536 Information <text string according to encoding>
539 4.2.1. Text information frames - details
542 The 'Album/Movie/Show title' frame is intended for the title of the
543 recording(/source of sound) which the audio in the file is taken
547 The 'BPM' frame contains the number of beats per minute in the
548 mainpart of the audio. The BPM is an integer and represented as a
552 The 'Composer(s)' frame is intended for the name of the composer(s).
553 They are seperated with the "/" character.
556 The 'Content type', which previously was stored as a one byte numeric
557 value only, is now a numeric string. You may use one or several of
558 the types as ID3v1.1 did or, since the category list would be
559 impossible to maintain with accurate and up to date categories,
562 References to the ID3v1 genres can be made by, as first byte, enter
563 "(" followed by a number from the genres list (appendix A.) and
564 ended with a ")" character. This is optionally followed by a
565 refinement, e.g. "(21)" or "(4)Eurodisco". Several references can be
566 made in the same frame, e.g. "(51)(39)". If the refinement should
567 begin with a "(" character it should be replaced with "((", e.g. "((I
568 can figure out any genre)" or "(55)((I think...)". The following new
569 content types is defined in ID3v2 and is implemented in the same way
570 as the numerig content types, e.g. "(RX)".
576 The 'Copyright message' frame, which must begin with a year and a
577 space character (making five characters), is intended for the
578 copyright holder of the original sound, not the audio file itself.
579 The absence of this frame means only that the copyright information
580 is unavailable or has been removed, and must not be interpreted to
581 mean that the sound is public domain. Every time this field is
582 displayed the field must be preceded with "Copyright " (C) " ", where
583 (C) is one character showing a C in a circle.
586 The 'Date' frame is a numeric string in the DDMM format containing
587 the date for the recording. This field is always four characters
591 The 'Playlist delay' defines the numbers of milliseconds of silence
592 between every song in a playlist. The player should use the "ETC"
593 frame, if present, to skip initial silence and silence at the end of
594 the audio to match the 'Playlist delay' time. The time is represented
598 The 'Encoded by' frame contains the name of the person or
599 organisation that encoded the audio file. This field may contain a
600 copyright message, if the audio file also is copyrighted by the
604 The 'Lyricist(s)/Text writer(s)' frame is intended for the writer(s)
605 of the text or lyrics in the recording. They are seperated with the
609 The 'File type' frame indicates which type of audio this tag defines.
610 The following type and refinements are defined:
615 /3 MPEG 1/2 layer III
617 /AAC Advanced audio compression
618 VQF Transform-domain Weighted Interleave Vector Quantization
619 PCM Pulse Code Modulated audio
621 but other types may be used, not for these types though. This is used
622 in a similar way to the predefined types in the "TMED" frame, but
623 without parentheses. If this frame is not present audio type is
627 The 'Time' frame is a numeric string in the HHMM format containing
628 the time for the recording. This field is always four characters
632 The 'Content group description' frame is used if the sound belongs to
633 a larger category of sounds/music. For example, classical music is
634 often sorted in different musical sections (e.g. "Piano Concerto",
635 "Weather - Hurricane").
638 The 'Title/Songname/Content description' frame is the actual name of
639 the piece (e.g. "Adagio", "Hurricane Donna").
642 The 'Subtitle/Description refinement' frame is used for information
643 directly related to the contents title (e.g. "Op. 16" or "Performed
647 The 'Initial key' frame contains the musical key in which the sound
648 starts. It is represented as a string with a maximum length of three
649 characters. The ground keys are represented with "A","B","C","D","E",
650 "F" and "G" and halfkeys represented with "b" and "#". Minor is
651 represented as "m". Example "Cbm". Off key is represented with an "o"
655 The 'Language(s)' frame should contain the languages of the text or
656 lyrics spoken or sung in the audio. The language is represented with
657 three characters according to ISO-639-2. If more than one language is
658 used in the text their language codes should follow according to
662 The 'Length' frame contains the length of the audiofile in
663 milliseconds, represented as a numeric string.
666 The 'Media type' frame describes from which media the sound
667 originated. This may be a text string or a reference to the
668 predefined media types found in the list below. References are made
669 within "(" and ")" and are optionally followed by a text refinement,
670 e.g. "(MC) with four channels". If a text refinement should begin
671 with a "(" character it should be replaced with "((" in the same way
672 as in the "TCO" frame. Predefined refinements is appended after the
673 media type, e.g. "(CD/A)" or "(VID/PAL/VHS)".
675 DIG Other digital media
676 /A Analog transfer from media
678 ANA Other analog media
680 /8CA 8-track tape cassette
683 /A Analog transfer from media
689 /A Analog transfer from media
700 /A Analog transfer from media
703 /A Analog transfer from media
704 /1 standard, 48 kHz/16 bits, linear
705 /2 mode 2, 32 kHz/16 bits, linear
706 /3 mode 3, 32 kHz/12 bits, nonlinear, low speed
707 /4 mode 4, 32 kHz/12 bits, 4 channels
708 /5 mode 5, 44.1 kHz/16 bits, linear
709 /6 mode 6, 44.1 kHz/16 bits, 'wide track' play
712 /A Analog transfer from media
715 /A Analog transfer from media
739 MC MC (normal cassette)
740 /4 4.75 cm/s (normal speed for a two sided cassette)
742 /I Type I cassette (ferric/normal)
743 /II Type II cassette (chrome)
744 /III Type III cassette (ferric chrome)
745 /IV Type IV cassette (metal)
752 /I Type I cassette (ferric/normal)
753 /II Type II cassette (chrome)
754 /III Type III cassette (ferric chrome)
755 /IV Type IV cassette (metal)
758 The 'Original album/movie/show title' frame is intended for the title
759 of the original recording (or source of sound), if for example the
760 music in the file should be a cover of a previously released song.
763 The 'Original filename' frame contains the preferred filename for the
764 file, since some media doesn't allow the desired length of the
765 filename. The filename is case sensitive and includes its suffix.
768 The 'Original lyricist(s)/text writer(s)' frame is intended for the
769 text writer(s) of the original recording, if for example the music in
770 the file should be a cover of a previously released song. The text
771 writers are seperated with the "/" character.
774 The 'Original artist(s)/performer(s)' frame is intended for the
775 performer(s) of the original recording, if for example the music in
776 the file should be a cover of a previously released song. The
777 performers are seperated with the "/" character.
780 The 'Original release year' frame is intended for the year when the
781 original recording, if for example the music in the file should be a
782 cover of a previously released song, was released. The field is
783 formatted as in the "TYER" frame.
786 The 'File owner/licensee' frame contains the name of the owner or
787 licensee of the file and it's contents.
790 The 'Lead artist(s)/Lead performer(s)/Soloist(s)/Performing group' is
791 used for the main artist(s). They are seperated with the "/"
795 The 'Band/Orchestra/Accompaniment' frame is used for additional
796 information about the performers in the recording.
799 The 'Conductor' frame is used for the name of the conductor.
802 The 'Interpreted, remixed, or otherwise modified by' frame contains
803 more information about the people behind a remix and similar
804 interpretations of another existing piece.
807 The 'Part of a set' frame is a numeric string that describes which
808 part of a set the audio came from. This frame is used if the source
809 described in the "TALB" frame is divided into several mediums, e.g. a
810 double CD. The value may be extended with a "/" character and a
811 numeric string containing the total number of parts in the set. E.g.
815 The 'Publisher' frame simply contains the name of the label or
819 The 'Track number/Position in set' frame is a numeric string
820 containing the order number of the audio-file on its original
821 recording. This may be extended with a "/" character and a numeric
822 string containing the total numer of tracks/elements on the original
823 recording. E.g. "4/9".
826 The 'Recording dates' frame is a intended to be used as complement to
827 the "TYER", "TDAT" and "TIME" frames. E.g. "4th-7th June, 12th June"
828 in combination with the "TYER" frame.
831 The 'Internet radio station name' frame contains the name of the
832 internet radio station from which the audio is streamed.
835 The 'Internet radio station owner' frame contains the name of the
836 owner of the internet radio station from which the audio is
840 The 'Size' frame contains the size of the audiofile in bytes,
841 excluding the ID3v2 tag, represented as a numeric string.
844 The 'ISRC' frame should contain the International Standard Recording
845 Code [ISRC] (12 characters).
848 The 'Software/Hardware and settings used for encoding' frame
849 includes the used audio encoder and its settings when the file was
850 encoded. Hardware refers to hardware encoders, not the computer on
851 which a program was run.
854 The 'Year' frame is a numeric string with a year of the recording.
855 This frames is always four characters long (until the year 10000).
858 4.2.2. User defined text information frame
860 This frame is intended for one-string text information concerning the
861 audiofile in a similar way to the other "T"-frames. The frame body
862 consists of a description of the string, represented as a terminated
863 string, followed by the actual string. There may be more than one
864 "TXXX" frame in each tag, but only one with the same description.
866 <Header for 'User defined text information frame', ID: "TXXX">
868 Description <text string according to encoding> $00 (00)
869 Value <text string according to encoding>
874 With these frames dynamic data such as webpages with touring
875 information, price information or plain ordinary news can be added to
876 the tag. There may only be one URL [URL] link frame of its kind in an
877 tag, except when stated otherwise in the frame description. If the
878 textstring is followed by a termination ($00 (00)) all the following
879 information should be ignored and not be displayed. All URL link
880 frame identifiers begins with "W". Only URL link frame identifiers
881 begins with "W". All URL link frames have the following format:
883 <Header for 'URL link frame', ID: "W000" - "WZZZ", excluding "WXXX"
888 4.3.1. URL link frames - details
891 The 'Commercial information' frame is a URL pointing at a webpage
892 with information such as where the album can be bought. There may be
893 more than one "WCOM" frame in a tag, but not with the same content.
896 The 'Copyright/Legal information' frame is a URL pointing at a
897 webpage where the terms of use and ownership of the file is
901 The 'Official audio file webpage' frame is a URL pointing at a file
905 The 'Official artist/performer webpage' frame is a URL pointing at
906 the artists official webpage. There may be more than one "WOAR" frame
907 in a tag if the audio contains more than one performer, but not with
911 The 'Official audio source webpage' frame is a URL pointing at the
912 official webpage for the source of the audio file, e.g. a movie.
915 The 'Official internet radio station homepage' contains a URL
916 pointing at the homepage of the internet radio station.
919 The 'Payment' frame is a URL pointing at a webpage that will handle
920 the process of paying for this file.
923 The 'Publishers official webpage' frame is a URL pointing at the
924 official wepage for the publisher.
927 4.3.2. User defined URL link frame
929 This frame is intended for URL [URL] links concerning the audiofile
930 in a similar way to the other "W"-frames. The frame body consists
931 of a description of the string, represented as a terminated string,
932 followed by the actual URL. The URL is always encoded with ISO-8859-1
933 [ISO-8859-1]. There may be more than one "WXXX" frame in each tag,
934 but only one with the same description.
936 <Header for 'User defined URL link frame', ID: "WXXX">
938 Description <text string according to encoding> $00 (00)
942 4.4. Involved people list
944 Since there might be a lot of people contributing to an audio file in
945 various ways, such as musicians and technicians, the 'Text
946 information frames' are often insufficient to list everyone involved
947 in a project. The 'Involved people list' is a frame containing the
948 names of those involved, and how they were involved. The body simply
949 contains a terminated string with the involvement directly followed
950 by a terminated string with the involvee followed by a new
951 involvement and so on. There may only be one "IPLS" frame in each
954 <Header for 'Involved people list', ID: "IPLS">
956 People list strings <text strings according to encoding>
959 4.5. Music CD identifier
961 This frame is intended for music that comes from a CD, so that the CD
962 can be identified in databases such as the CDDB [CDDB]. The frame
963 consists of a binary dump of the Table Of Contents, TOC, from the CD,
964 which is a header of 4 bytes and then 8 bytes/track on the CD plus 8
965 bytes for the 'lead out' making a maximum of 804 bytes. The offset to
966 the beginning of every track on the CD should be described with a
967 four bytes absolute CD-frame address per track, and not with absolute
968 time. This frame requires a present and valid "TRCK" frame, even if
969 the CD's only got one track. There may only be one "MCDI" frame in
972 <Header for 'Music CD identifier', ID: "MCDI">
976 4.6. Event timing codes
978 This frame allows synchronisation with key events in a song or sound.
981 <Header for 'Event timing codes', ID: "ETCO">
982 Time stamp format $xx
984 Where time stamp format is:
986 $01 Absolute time, 32 bit sized, using MPEG [MPEG] frames as unit
987 $02 Absolute time, 32 bit sized, using milliseconds as unit
989 Abolute time means that every stamp contains the time from the
990 beginning of the file.
992 Followed by a list of key events in the following format:
995 Time stamp $xx (xx ...)
997 The 'Time stamp' is set to zero if directly at the beginning of the
998 sound or after the previous event. All events should be sorted in
999 chronological order. The type of event is as follows:
1001 $00 padding (has no meaning)
1002 $01 end of initial silence
1014 $0D momentary unwanted noise (Snap, Crackle & Pop)
1016 $0F sustained noise end
1023 $15-$DF reserved for future use
1025 $E0-$EF not predefined sync 0-F
1027 $F0-$FC reserved for future use
1029 $FD audio end (start of silence)
1031 $FF one more byte of events follows (all the following bytes with
1032 the value $FF have the same function)
1034 Terminating the start events such as "intro start" is not required.
1035 The 'Not predefined sync's ($E0-EF) are for user events. You might
1036 want to synchronise your music to something, like setting of an
1037 explosion on-stage, turning on your screensaver etc.
1039 There may only be one "ETCO" frame in each tag.
1042 4.7. MPEG location lookup table
1044 To increase performance and accuracy of jumps within a MPEG [MPEG]
1045 audio file, frames with timecodes in different locations in the file
1046 might be useful. The ID3v2 frame includes references that the
1047 software can use to calculate positions in the file. After the frame
1048 header is a descriptor of how much the 'frame counter' should
1049 increase for every reference. If this value is two then the first
1050 reference points out the second frame, the 2nd reference the 4th
1051 frame, the 3rd reference the 6th frame etc. In a similar way the
1052 'bytes between reference' and 'milliseconds between reference' points
1053 out bytes and milliseconds respectively.
1055 Each reference consists of two parts; a certain number of bits, as
1056 defined in 'bits for bytes deviation', that describes the difference
1057 between what is said in 'bytes between reference' and the reality and
1058 a certain number of bits, as defined in 'bits for milliseconds
1059 deviation', that describes the difference between what is said in
1060 'milliseconds between reference' and the reality. The number of bits
1061 in every reference, i.e. 'bits for bytes deviation'+'bits for
1062 milliseconds deviation', must be a multiple of four. There may only
1063 be one "MLLT" frame in each tag.
1065 <Header for 'Location lookup table', ID: "MLLT">
1066 MPEG frames between reference $xx xx
1067 Bytes between reference $xx xx xx
1068 Milliseconds between reference $xx xx xx
1069 Bits for bytes deviation $xx
1070 Bits for milliseconds dev. $xx
1072 Then for every reference the following data is included;
1074 Deviation in bytes %xxx....
1075 Deviation in milliseconds %xxx....
1078 4.8. Synchronised tempo codes
1080 For a more accurate description of the tempo of a musical piece this
1081 frame might be used. After the header follows one byte describing
1082 which time stamp format should be used. Then follows one or more
1083 tempo codes. Each tempo code consists of one tempo part and one time
1084 part. The tempo is in BPM described with one or two bytes. If the
1085 first byte has the value $FF, one more byte follows, which is added
1086 to the first giving a range from 2 - 510 BPM, since $00 and $01 is
1087 reserved. $00 is used to describe a beat-free time period, which is
1088 not the same as a music-free time period. $01 is used to indicate one
1089 single beat-stroke followed by a beat-free period.
1091 The tempo descriptor is followed by a time stamp. Every time the
1092 tempo in the music changes, a tempo descriptor may indicate this for
1093 the player. All tempo descriptors should be sorted in chronological
1094 order. The first beat-stroke in a time-period is at the same time as
1095 the beat description occurs. There may only be one "SYTC" frame in
1098 <Header for 'Synchronised tempo codes', ID: "SYTC">
1099 Time stamp format $xx
1100 Tempo data <binary data>
1102 Where time stamp format is:
1104 $01 Absolute time, 32 bit sized, using MPEG [MPEG] frames as unit
1105 $02 Absolute time, 32 bit sized, using milliseconds as unit
1107 Abolute time means that every stamp contains the time from the
1108 beginning of the file.
1111 4.9. Unsychronised lyrics/text transcription
1113 This frame contains the lyrics of the song or a text transcription of
1114 other vocal activities. The head includes an encoding descriptor and
1115 a content descriptor. The body consists of the actual text. The
1116 'Content descriptor' is a terminated string. If no descriptor is
1117 entered, 'Content descriptor' is $00 (00) only. Newline characters
1118 are allowed in the text. There may be more than one 'Unsynchronised
1119 lyrics/text transcription' frame in each tag, but only one with the
1120 same language and content descriptor.
1122 <Header for 'Unsynchronised lyrics/text transcription', ID: "USLT">
1125 Content descriptor <text string according to encoding> $00 (00)
1126 Lyrics/text <full text string according to encoding>
1129 4.10. Synchronised lyrics/text
1131 This is another way of incorporating the words, said or sung lyrics,
1132 in the audio file as text, this time, however, in sync with the
1133 audio. It might also be used to describing events e.g. occurring on a
1134 stage or on the screen in sync with the audio. The header includes a
1135 content descriptor, represented with as terminated textstring. If no
1136 descriptor is entered, 'Content descriptor' is $00 (00) only.
1138 <Header for 'Synchronised lyrics/text', ID: "SYLT">
1141 Time stamp format $xx
1143 Content descriptor <text string according to encoding> $00 (00)
1146 Encoding: $00 ISO-8859-1 [ISO-8859-1] character set is used => $00
1148 $01 Unicode [UNICODE] character set is used => $00 00 is
1151 Content type: $00 is other
1153 $02 is text transcription
1154 $03 is movement/part name (e.g. "Adagio")
1155 $04 is events (e.g. "Don Quijote enters the stage")
1156 $05 is chord (e.g. "Bb F Fsus")
1157 $06 is trivia/'pop up' information
1159 Time stamp format is:
1161 $01 Absolute time, 32 bit sized, using MPEG [MPEG] frames as unit
1162 $02 Absolute time, 32 bit sized, using milliseconds as unit
1164 Abolute time means that every stamp contains the time from the
1165 beginning of the file.
1167 The text that follows the frame header differs from that of the
1168 unsynchronised lyrics/text transcription in one major way. Each
1169 syllable (or whatever size of text is considered to be convenient by
1170 the encoder) is a null terminated string followed by a time stamp
1171 denoting where in the sound file it belongs. Each sync thus has the
1172 following structure:
1174 Terminated text to be synced (typically a syllable)
1175 Sync identifier (terminator to above string) $00 (00)
1176 Time stamp $xx (xx ...)
1178 The 'time stamp' is set to zero or the whole sync is omitted if
1179 located directly at the beginning of the sound. All time stamps
1180 should be sorted in chronological order. The sync can be considered
1181 as a validator of the subsequent string.
1183 Newline ($0A) characters are allowed in all "SYLT" frames and should
1184 be used after every entry (name, event etc.) in a frame with the
1185 content type $03 - $04.
1187 A few considerations regarding whitespace characters: Whitespace
1188 separating words should mark the beginning of a new word, thus
1189 occurring in front of the first syllable of a new word. This is also
1190 valid for new line characters. A syllable followed by a comma should
1191 not be broken apart with a sync (both the syllable and the comma
1192 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 xx xx
1201 " night" $00 xx xx 0A "Ex" $00 xx xx "chang" $00 xx xx "ing" $00 xx
1202 xx "glan" $00 xx xx "ces" $00 xx xx
1204 There may be more than one "SYLT" frame in each tag, but only one
1205 with the same language and content descriptor.
1210 This frame is indended for any kind of full text information that
1211 does not fit in any other frame. It consists of a frame header
1212 followed by encoding, language and content descriptors and is ended
1213 with the actual comment as a text string. Newline characters are
1214 allowed in the comment text string. There may be more than one
1215 comment frame in each tag, but only one with the same language and
1218 <Header for 'Comment', ID: "COMM">
1221 Short content descrip. <text string according to encoding> $00 (00)
1222 The actual text <full text string according to encoding>
1225 4.12. Relative volume adjustment
1227 This is a more subjective function than the previous ones. It allows
1228 the user to say how much he wants to increase/decrease the volume on
1229 each channel while the file is played. The purpose is to be able to
1230 align all files to a reference volume, so that you don't have to
1231 change the volume constantly. This frame may also be used to balance
1232 adjust the audio. If the volume peak levels are known then this could
1233 be described with the 'Peak volume right' and 'Peak volume left'
1234 field. If Peakvolume is not known these fields could be left zeroed
1235 or, if no other data follows, be completely omitted. There may only
1236 be one "RVAD" frame in each tag.
1238 <Header for 'Relative volume adjustment', ID: "RVAD">
1239 Increment/decrement %00xxxxxx
1240 Bits used for volume descr. $xx
1241 Relative volume change, right $xx xx (xx ...)
1242 Relative volume change, left $xx xx (xx ...)
1243 Peak volume right $xx xx (xx ...)
1244 Peak volume left $xx xx (xx ...)
1246 In the increment/decrement field bit 0 is used to indicate the right
1247 channel and bit 1 is used to indicate the left channel. 1 is
1248 increment and 0 is decrement.
1250 The 'bits used for volume description' field is normally $10 (16
1251 bits) for MPEG 2 layer I, II and III [MPEG] and MPEG 2.5. This value
1252 may not be $00. The volume is always represented with whole bytes,
1253 padded in the beginning (highest bits) when 'bits used for volume
1254 description' is not a multiple of eight.
1256 This datablock is then optionally followed by a volume definition for
1257 the left and right back channels. If this information is appended to
1258 the frame the first two channels will be treated as front channels.
1259 In the increment/decrement field bit 2 is used to indicate the right
1260 back channel and bit 3 for the left back channel.
1262 Relative volume change, right back $xx xx (xx ...)
1263 Relative volume change, left back $xx xx (xx ...)
1264 Peak volume right back $xx xx (xx ...)
1265 Peak volume left back $xx xx (xx ...)
1267 If the center channel adjustment is present the following is appended
1268 to the existing frame, after the left and right back channels. The
1269 center channel is represented by bit 4 in the increase/decrease
1272 Relative volume change, center $xx xx (xx ...)
1273 Peak volume center $xx xx (xx ...)
1275 If the bass channel adjustment is present the following is appended
1276 to the existing frame, after the center channel. The bass channel is
1277 represented by bit 5 in the increase/decrease field.
1279 Relative volume change, bass $xx xx (xx ...)
1280 Peak volume bass $xx xx (xx ...)
1285 This is another subjective, alignment frame. It allows the user to
1286 predefine an equalisation curve within the audio file. There may only
1287 be one "EQUA" frame in each tag.
1289 <Header of 'Equalisation', ID: "EQUA">
1292 The 'adjustment bits' field defines the number of bits used for
1293 representation of the adjustment. This is normally $10 (16 bits) for
1294 MPEG 2 layer I, II and III [MPEG] and MPEG 2.5. This value may not be
1297 This is followed by 2 bytes + ('adjustment bits' rounded up to the
1298 nearest byte) for every equalisation band in the following format,
1299 giving a frequency range of 0 - 32767Hz:
1301 Increment/decrement %x (MSB of the Frequency)
1302 Frequency (lower 15 bits)
1303 Adjustment $xx (xx ...)
1305 The increment/decrement bit is 1 for increment and 0 for decrement.
1306 The equalisation bands should be ordered increasingly with reference
1307 to frequency. All frequencies don't have to be declared. The
1308 equalisation curve in the reading software should be interpolated
1309 between the values in this frame. Three equal adjustments for three
1310 subsequent frequencies. A frequency should only be described once in
1316 Yet another subjective one. You may here adjust echoes of different
1317 kinds. Reverb left/right is the delay between every bounce in ms.
1318 Reverb bounces left/right is the number of bounces that should be
1319 made. $FF equals an infinite number of bounces. Feedback is the
1320 amount of volume that should be returned to the next echo bounce. $00
1321 is 0%, $FF is 100%. If this value were $7F, there would be 50% volume
1322 reduction on the first bounce, 50% of that on the second and so on.
1323 Left to left means the sound from the left bounce to be played in the
1324 left speaker, while left to right means sound from the left bounce to
1325 be played in the right speaker.
1327 'Premix left to right' is the amount of left sound to be mixed in the
1328 right before any reverb is applied, where $00 id 0% and $FF is 100%.
1329 'Premix right to left' does the same thing, but right to left.
1330 Setting both premix to $FF would result in a mono output (if the
1331 reverb is applied symmetric). There may only be one "RVRB" frame in
1334 <Header for 'Reverb', ID: "RVRB">
1335 Reverb left (ms) $xx xx
1336 Reverb right (ms) $xx xx
1337 Reverb bounces, left $xx
1338 Reverb bounces, right $xx
1339 Reverb feedback, left to left $xx
1340 Reverb feedback, left to right $xx
1341 Reverb feedback, right to right $xx
1342 Reverb feedback, right to left $xx
1343 Premix left to right $xx
1344 Premix right to left $xx
1347 4.15. Attached picture
1349 This frame contains a picture directly related to the audio file.
1350 Image format is the MIME type and subtype [MIME] for the image. In
1351 the event that the MIME media type name is omitted, "image/" will be
1352 implied. The "image/png" [PNG] or "image/jpeg" [JFIF] picture format
1353 should be used when interoperability is wanted. Description is a
1354 short description of the picture, represented as a terminated
1355 textstring. The description has a maximum length of 64 characters,
1356 but may be empty. There may be several pictures attached to one file,
1357 each in their individual "APIC" frame, but only one with the same
1358 content descriptor. There may only be one picture with the picture
1359 type declared as picture type $01 and $02 respectively. There is the
1360 possibility to put only a link to the image file by using the 'MIME
1361 type' "-->" and having a complete URL [URL] instead of picture data.
1362 The use of linked files should however be used sparingly since there
1363 is the risk of separation of files.
1365 <Header for 'Attached picture', ID: "APIC">
1367 MIME type <text string> $00
1369 Description <text string according to encoding> $00 (00)
1370 Picture data <binary data>
1373 Picture type: $00 Other
1374 $01 32x32 pixels 'file icon' (PNG only)
1379 $06 Media (e.g. lable side of CD)
1380 $07 Lead artist/lead performer/soloist
1381 $08 Artist/performer
1385 $0C Lyricist/text writer
1386 $0D Recording Location
1387 $0E During recording
1388 $0F During performance
1389 $10 Movie/video screen capture
1390 $11 A bright coloured fish
1392 $13 Band/artist logotype
1393 $14 Publisher/Studio logotype
1396 4.16. General encapsulated object
1398 In this frame any type of file can be encapsulated. After the header,
1399 'Frame size' and 'Encoding' follows 'MIME type' [MIME] represented as
1400 as a terminated string encoded with ISO 8859-1 [ISO-8859-1]. The
1401 filename is case sensitive and is encoded as 'Encoding'. Then follows
1402 a content description as terminated string, encoded as 'Encoding'.
1403 The last thing in the frame is the actual object. The first two
1404 strings may be omitted, leaving only their terminations. MIME type is
1405 always an ISO-8859-1 text string. There may be more than one "GEOB"
1406 frame in each tag, but only one with the same content descriptor.
1408 <Header for 'General encapsulated object', ID: "GEOB">
1410 MIME type <text string> $00
1411 Filename <text string according to encoding> $00 (00)
1412 Content description <text string according to encóding> $00 (00)
1413 Encapsulated object <binary data>
1418 This is simply a counter of the number of times a file has been
1419 played. The value is increased by one every time the file begins to
1420 play. There may only be one "PCNT" frame in each tag. When the
1421 counter reaches all one's, one byte is inserted in front of the
1422 counter thus making the counter eight bits bigger. The counter must
1423 be at least 32-bits long to begin with.
1425 <Header for 'Play counter', ID: "PCNT">
1426 Counter $xx xx xx xx (xx ...)
1431 The purpose of this frame is to specify how good an audio file is.
1432 Many interesting applications could be found to this frame such as a
1433 playlist that features better audiofiles more often than others or it
1434 could be used to profile a person's taste and find other 'good' files
1435 by comparing people's profiles. The frame is very simple. It contains
1436 the email address to the user, one rating byte and a four byte play
1437 counter, intended to be increased with one for every time the file is
1438 played. The email is a terminated string. The rating is 1-255 where
1439 1 is worst and 255 is best. 0 is unknown. If no personal counter is
1440 wanted it may be omitted. When the counter reaches all one's, one
1441 byte is inserted in front of the counter thus making the counter
1442 eight bits bigger in the same away as the play counter ("PCNT").
1443 There may be more than one "POPM" frame in each tag, but only one
1444 with the same email address.
1446 <Header for 'Popularimeter', ID: "POPM">
1447 Email to user <text string> $00
1449 Counter $xx xx xx xx (xx ...)
1452 4.19. Recommended buffer size
1454 Sometimes the server from which a audio file is streamed is aware of
1455 transmission or coding problems resulting in interruptions in the
1456 audio stream. In these cases, the size of the buffer can be
1457 recommended by the server using this frame. If the 'embedded info
1458 flag' is true (1) then this indicates that an ID3 tag with the
1459 maximum size described in 'Buffer size' may occur in the audiostream.
1460 In such case the tag should reside between two MPEG [MPEG] frames, if
1461 the audio is MPEG encoded. If the position of the next tag is known,
1462 'offset to next tag' may be used. The offset is calculated from the
1463 end of tag in which this frame resides to the first byte of the
1464 header in the next. This field may be omitted. Embedded tags are
1465 generally not recommended since this could render unpredictable
1466 behaviour from present software/hardware.
1468 For applications like streaming audio it might be an idea to embed
1469 tags into the audio stream though. If the clients connects to
1470 individual connections like HTTP and there is a possibility to begin
1471 every transmission with a tag, then this tag should include a
1472 'recommended buffer size' frame. If the client is connected to a
1473 arbitrary point in the stream, such as radio or multicast, then the
1474 'recommended buffer size' frame should be included in every tag.
1475 Every tag that is picked up after the initial/first tag is to be
1476 considered as an update of the previous one. E.g. if there is a
1477 "TIT2" frame in the first received tag and one in the second tag,
1478 then the first should be 'replaced' with the second.
1480 The 'Buffer size' should be kept to a minimum. There may only be one
1481 "RBUF" frame in each tag.
1483 <Header for 'Recommended buffer size', ID: "RBUF">
1484 Buffer size $xx xx xx
1485 Embedded info flag %0000000x
1486 Offset to next tag $xx xx xx xx
1489 4.20. Audio encryption
1491 This frame indicates if the actual audio stream is encrypted, and by
1492 whom. Since standardisation of such encrypion scheme is beyond this
1493 document, all "AENC" frames begin with a terminated string with a
1494 URL containing an email address, or a link to a location where an
1495 email address can be found, that belongs to the organisation
1496 responsible for this specific encrypted audio file. Questions
1497 regarding the encrypted audio should be sent to the email address
1498 specified. If a $00 is found directly after the 'Frame size' and the
1499 audiofile indeed is encrypted, the whole file may be considered
1502 After the 'Owner identifier', a pointer to an unencrypted part of the
1503 audio can be specified. The 'Preview start' and 'Preview length' is
1504 described in frames. If no part is unencrypted, these fields should
1505 be left zeroed. After the 'preview length' field follows optionally a
1506 datablock required for decryption of the audio. There may be more
1507 than one "AENC" frames in a tag, but only one with the same 'Owner
1510 <Header for 'Audio encryption', ID: "AENC">
1511 Owner identifier <text string> $00
1512 Preview start $xx xx
1513 Preview length $xx xx
1514 Encryption info <binary data>
1517 4.21. Linked information
1519 To keep space waste as low as possible this frame may be used to link
1520 information from another ID3v2 tag that might reside in another audio
1521 file or alone in a binary file. It is recommended that this method is
1522 only used when the files are stored on a CD-ROM or other
1523 circumstances when the risk of file seperation is low. The frame
1524 contains a frame identifier, which is the frame that should be linked
1525 into this tag, a URL [URL] field, where a reference to the file where
1526 the frame is given, and additional ID data, if needed. Data should be
1527 retrieved from the first tag found in the file to which this link
1528 points. There may be more than one "LINK" frame in a tag, but only
1529 one with the same contents. A linked frame is to be considered as
1530 part of the tag and has the same restrictions as if it was a physical
1531 part of the tag (i.e. only one "RVRB" frame allowed, whether it's
1534 <Header for 'Linked information', ID: "LINK">
1535 Frame identifier $xx xx xx
1536 URL <text string> $00
1537 ID and additional data <text string(s)>
1539 Frames that may be linked and need no additional data are "IPLS",
1540 "MCID", "ETCO", "MLLT", "SYTC", "RVAD", "EQUA", "RVRB", "RBUF", the
1541 text information frames and the URL link frames.
1543 The "TXXX", "APIC", "GEOB" and "AENC" frames may be linked with
1544 the content descriptor as additional ID data.
1546 The "COMM", "SYLT" and "USLT" frames may be linked with three bytes
1547 of language descriptor directly followed by a content descriptor as
1551 4.22. Position synchronisation frame
1553 This frame delivers information to the listener of how far into the
1554 audio stream he picked up; in effect, it states the time offset of
1555 the first frame in the stream. The frame layout is:
1557 <Head for 'Position synchronisation', ID: "POSS">
1558 Time stamp format $xx
1559 Position $xx (xx ...)
1561 Where time stamp format is:
1563 $01 Absolute time, 32 bit sized, using MPEG frames as unit
1564 $02 Absolute time, 32 bit sized, using milliseconds as unit
1566 and position is where in the audio the listener starts to receive,
1567 i.e. the beginning of the next frame. If this frame is used in the
1568 beginning of a file the value is always 0. There may only be one
1569 "POSS" frame in each tag.
1572 4.23. Terms of use frame
1574 This frame contains a brief description of the terms of use and
1575 ownership of the file. More detailed information concerning the legal
1576 terms might be available through the "WCOP" frame. Newlines are
1577 allowed in the text. There may only be one "USER" frame in a tag.
1579 <Header for 'Terms of use frame', ID: "USER">
1582 The actual text <text string according to encoding>
1585 4.24. Ownership frame
1587 The ownership frame might be used as a reminder of a made transaction
1588 or, if signed, as proof. Note that the "USER" and "TOWN" frames are
1589 good to use in conjunction with this one. The frame begins, after the
1590 frame ID, size and encoding fields, with a 'price payed' field. The
1591 first three characters of this field contains the currency used for
1592 the transaction, encoded according to ISO 4217 [ISO-4217] alphabetic
1593 currency code. Concatenated to this is the actual price payed, as a
1594 numerical string using "." as the decimal separator. Next is an 8
1595 character date string (YYYYMMDD) followed by a string with the name
1596 of the seller as the last field in the frame. There may only be one
1597 "OWNE" frame in a tag.
1599 <Header for 'Ownership frame', ID: "OWNE">
1601 Price payed <text string> $00
1602 Date of purch. <text string>
1603 Seller <text string according to encoding>
1606 4.25. Commercial frame
1608 This frame enables several competing offers in the same tag by
1609 bundling all needed information. That makes this frame rather complex
1610 but it's an easier solution than if one tries to achieve the same
1611 result with several frames. The frame begins, after the frame ID,
1612 size and encoding fields, with a price string field. A price is
1613 constructed by one three character currency code, encoded according
1614 to ISO 4217 [ISO-4217] alphabetic currency code, followed by a
1615 numerical value where "." is used as decimal seperator. In the price
1616 string several prices may be concatenated, seperated by a "/"
1617 character, but there may only be one currency of each type.
1619 The price string is followed by an 8 character date string in the
1620 format YYYYMMDD, describing for how long the price is valid. After
1621 that is a contact URL, with which the user can contact the seller,
1622 followed by a one byte 'received as' field. It describes how the
1623 audio is delivered when bought according to the following list:
1626 $01 Standard CD album with other songs
1627 $02 Compressed audio on CD
1628 $03 File over the Internet
1629 $04 Stream over the Internet
1631 $06 As note sheets in a book with other sheets
1632 $07 Music on other media
1633 $08 Non-musical merchandise
1635 Next follows a terminated string with the name of the seller followed
1636 by a terminated string with a short description of the product. The
1637 last thing is the ability to include a company logotype. The first of
1638 them is the 'Picture MIME type' field containing information about
1639 which picture format is used. In the event that the MIME media type
1640 name is omitted, "image/" will be implied. Currently only "image/png"
1641 and "image/jpeg" are allowed. This format string is followed by the
1642 binary picture data. This two last fields may be omitted if no
1643 picture is to attach.
1645 <Header for 'Commercial frame', ID: "COMR">
1647 Price string <text string> $00
1648 Valid until <text string>
1649 Contact URL <text string> $00
1651 Name of seller <text string according to encoding> $00 (00)
1652 Description <text string according to encoding> $00 (00)
1653 Picture MIME type <string> $00
1654 Seller logo <binary data>
1657 4.26. Encryption method registration
1659 To identify with which method a frame has been encrypted the
1660 encryption method must be registered in the tag with this frame. The
1661 'Owner identifier' is a null-terminated string with a URL [URL]
1662 containing an email address, or a link to a location where an email
1663 address can be found, that belongs to the organisation responsible
1664 for this specific encryption method. Questions regarding the
1665 encryption method should be sent to the indicated email address. The
1666 'Method symbol' contains a value that is associated with this method
1667 throughout the whole tag. Values below $80 are reserved. The 'Method
1668 symbol' may optionally be followed by encryption specific data. There
1669 may be several "ENCR" frames in a tag but only one containing the
1670 same symbol and only one containing the same owner identifier. The
1671 method must be used somewhere in the tag. See section 3.3.1, flag j
1672 for more information.
1674 <Header for 'Encryption method registration', ID: "ENCR">
1675 Owner identifier <text string> $00
1677 Encryption data <binary data>
1680 4.27. Group identification registration
1682 This frame enables grouping of otherwise unrelated frames. This can
1683 be used when some frames are to be signed. To identify which frames
1684 belongs to a set of frames a group identifier must be registered in
1685 the tag with this frame. The 'Owner identifier' is a null-terminated
1686 string with a URL [URL] containing an email address, or a link to a
1687 location where an email address can be found, that belongs to the
1688 organisation responsible for this grouping. Questions regarding the
1689 grouping should be sent to the indicated email address. The 'Group
1690 symbol' contains a value that associates the frame with this group
1691 throughout the whole tag. Values below $80 are reserved. The 'Group
1692 symbol' may optionally be followed by some group specific data, e.g.
1693 a digital signature. There may be several "GRID" frames in a tag but
1694 only one containing the same symbol and only one containing the same
1695 owner identifier. The group symbol must be used somewhere in the tag.
1696 See section 3.3.1, flag j for more information.
1698 <Header for 'Group ID registration', ID: "GRID">
1699 Owner identifier <text string> $00
1701 Group dependent data <binary data>
1706 This frame is used to contain information from a software producer
1707 that its program uses and does not fit into the other frames. The
1708 frame consists of an 'Owner identifier' string and the binary data.
1709 The 'Owner identifier' is a null-terminated string with a URL [URL]
1710 containing an email address, or a link to a location where an email
1711 address can be found, that belongs to the organisation responsible
1712 for the frame. Questions regarding the frame should be sent to the
1713 indicated email address. The tag may contain more than one "PRIV"
1714 frame but only with different contents. It is recommended to keep the
1715 number of "PRIV" frames as low as possible.
1717 <Header for 'Private frame', ID: "PRIV">
1718 Owner identifier <text string> $00
1719 The private data <binary data>
1722 5. The 'unsynchronisation scheme'
1724 The only purpose of the 'unsynchronisation scheme' is to make the
1725 ID3v2 tag as compatible as possible with existing software. There is
1726 no use in 'unsynchronising' tags if the file is only to be processed
1727 by new software. Unsynchronisation may only be made with MPEG 2 layer
1728 I, II and III and MPEG 2.5 files.
1730 Whenever a false synchronisation is found within the tag, one zeroed
1731 byte is inserted after the first false synchronisation byte. The
1732 format of a correct sync that should be altered by ID3 encoders is as
1737 And should be replaced with:
1739 %11111111 00000000 111xxxxx
1741 This has the side effect that all $FF 00 combinations have to be
1742 altered, so they won't be affected by the decoding process. Therefore
1743 all the $FF 00 combinations have to be replaced with the $FF 00 00
1744 combination during the unsynchronisation.
1746 To indicate usage of the unsynchronisation, the first bit in 'ID3
1747 flags' should be set. This bit should only be set if the tag
1748 contains a, now corrected, false synchronisation. The bit should
1749 only be clear if the tag does not contain any false synchronisations.
1751 Do bear in mind, that if a compression scheme is used by the encoder,
1752 the unsynchronisation scheme should be applied *afterwards*. When
1753 decoding a compressed, 'unsynchronised' file, the 'unsynchronisation
1754 scheme' should be parsed first, decompression afterwards.
1756 If the last byte in the tag is $FF, and there is a need to eliminate
1757 false synchronisations in the tag, at least one byte of padding
1763 Copyright (C) Martin Nilsson 1998. All Rights Reserved.
1765 This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
1766 others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
1767 or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
1768 and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
1769 kind, provided that a reference to this document is included on all
1770 such copies and derivative works. However, this document itself may
1771 not be modified in any way and reissued as the original document.
1773 The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
1776 This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
1777 "AS IS" basis and THE AUTHORS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR
1778 IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF
1779 THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
1780 WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
1785 [CDDB] Compact Disc Data Base
1789 [ID3v2] Martin Nilsson, "ID3v2 informal standard".
1791 http://www.id3lib.org/id3/id3v2-00.txt
1793 [ISO-639-2] ISO/FDIS 639-2.
1794 Codes for the representation of names of languages, Part 2: Alpha-3
1795 code. Technical committee / subcommittee: TC 37 / SC 2
1797 [ISO-4217] ISO 4217:1995.
1798 Codes for the representation of currencies and funds.
1799 Technical committee / subcommittee: TC 68
1801 [ISO-8859-1] ISO/IEC DIS 8859-1.
1802 8-bit single-byte coded graphic character sets, Part 1: Latin
1803 alphabet No. 1. Technical committee / subcommittee: JTC 1 / SC 2
1805 [ISRC] ISO 3901:1986
1806 International Standard Recording Code (ISRC).
1807 Technical committee / subcommittee: TC 46 / SC 9
1809 [JFIF] JPEG File Interchange Format, version 1.02
1811 http://www.w3.org/Graphics/JPEG/jfif.txt">http://www.w3.org/Graphics/JPEG/jfif.txt
1813 [MIME] Freed, N. and N. Borenstein, "Multipurpose Internet Mail
1814 Extensions (MIME) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies",
1815 RFC 2045, November 1996.
1817 ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2045.txt">ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2045.txt
1819 [MPEG] ISO/IEC 11172-3:1993.
1820 Coding of moving pictures and associated audio for digital storage
1821 media at up to about 1,5 Mbit/s, Part 3: Audio.
1822 Technical committee / subcommittee: JTC 1 / SC 29
1824 ISO/IEC 13818-3:1995
1825 Generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information,
1827 Technical committee / subcommittee: JTC 1 / SC 29
1830 Generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information,
1831 Part 3: Audio (Revision of ISO/IEC 13818-3:1995)
1834 [PNG] Portable Network Graphics, version 1.0
1836 http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-png-multi.html
1838 [UNICODE] ISO/IEC 10646-1:1993.
1839 Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set (UCS), Part 1:
1840 Architecture and Basic Multilingual Plane.
1841 Technical committee / subcommittee: JTC 1 / SC 2
1843 http://www.unicode.org/
1845 [URL] T. Berners-Lee, L. Masinter & M. McCahill, "Uniform Resource
1846 Locators (URL).", RFC 1738, December 1994.
1848 ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc1738.txt
1850 [ZLIB] P. Deutsch, Aladdin Enterprises & J-L. Gailly, "ZLIB
1852 Data Format Specification version 3.3", RFC 1950, May 1996.
1854 ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc1950.txt
1860 A. Appendix A - Genre List from ID3v1
1862 The following genres is defined in ID3v1
1911 47.Instrumental Rock
1915 51.Techno-Industrial
1945 The following genres are Winamp extensions
2004 Email: nilsson@id3.org
2018 Alsättersgatan 5 A. 34
2022 Email: johan@id3.org