M3U
Filename extensions
Internet media type	various; see § Internet media types
Initial release	c. 1996
Type of format	Playlist
Extended to	HTTP Live Streaming playlist

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M3U (MP3 URL^[1]^[2] or Moving Picture Experts Group Audio Layer 3Uniform Resource Locator^[3] in full) is a computer file format for a multimedia playlist. One common use of the M3U file format is creating a single-entry playlist file pointing to a stream on the Internet. The created file provides easy access to that stream and is often used in downloads from a website, for emailing, and for listening to Internet radio.

Although originally designed for audio files, such as MP3, it is commonly used to point media players to audio and video sources, including online sources. M3U was originally developed by Fraunhofer for use with their Winplay3 software,^[4] but numerous media players and software applications now support the format.

Careless handling of M3U playlists has been the cause of vulnerabilities in many music players such as VLC media player,^[5]iTunes,^[6]Winamp,^[7] and many others.^[8]

File format[edit]

There is no formal specification for the M3U format; it is a de facto standard.

An M3U file is a plain text file that specifies the locations of one or more media files. The file is saved with the 'm3u' filename extension if the text is encoded in the local system's default non-Unicode encoding (e.g., a Windows codepage), or with the 'm3u8' extension if the text is UTF-8 encoded.^[9]

Each entry carries one specification. The specification can be any one of the following:

an absolute local pathname; e.g., C:My MusicHeavysets.mp3
a local pathname relative to the M3U file location; e.g. Heavysets.mp3
a URL

Extended M3U[edit]

The M3U file can also include comments, prefaced by the '#' character. In extended M3U, '#' also introduces extended M3U directives which are terminated by a colon ':' if they support parameters.

M3U extensions
Directive	Description	Example	Required	Standard
`#EXTM3U`	file header, must be the first line of the file	`#EXTM3U`	1×	Yes
`#EXTINF:`	track information: runtime in seconds and display title of the following resource	`#EXTINF:123,Artist Name – Track Title␤ artist - title.mp3`	No	Yes
`#EXTINF:`	additional properties as key-value pairs	`#EXTINF:123 logo='cover.jpg',Track Title`	No	IPTV
`#PLAYLIST:`	playlist display title	`#PLAYLIST:Music TV`	1×	IPTV
`#EXTGRP:`	begin named grouping	`#EXTGRP:Foreign Channels`	No	IPTV
`#EXTALB:`	album information, title in particular	`#EXTALB:Album Title (2009)`	1×	AL,^[10] M3A^[11]
`#EXTART:`	album artist	`#EXTART:Various`	1×	AL,^[10] M3A^[11]
`#EXTGENRE:`	album genre	`#EXTGENRE:Jazz Fusion`	1×	AL^[10]
`#EXTM3A`	playlist for tracks or chapters of an album in a single file	`#EXTM3A`	1×	M3A^[11]
`#EXTBYT:`	file size in bytes	`#EXTBYT:34124`	No	M3A^[11]
`#EXTBIN:`	binary data follows, usually concatenated MP3s	`#EXTBIN:`	No	M3A^[11]
`#EXTENC:`	text encoding, must be the second line of the file	`#EXTENC: UTF-8`	1×	No
`#EXTIMG:`	cover, logo or other image	`#EXTIMG: front cover␤ cover.jpg`	No	No

Apple used the extended M3U format as a base for their HTTP Live Streaming (HLS)^[12] which was standardized in 2017 by the IETF as RFC 8216.^[13] Therein, a master playlist references segment playlists which usually contain URLs for short parts of the media stream. Some tags only apply to the former type and some only to the latter type of playlist, but they all begin with #EXT-X-.

HLS M3U extensions
Directive	Example	Description
`#EXT-X-START:`	`TIME-OFFSET=0`
`#EXT-X-INDEPENDENT-SEGMENTS`	toggle without parameters
`#EXT-X-PLAYLIST-TYPE:`	`VOD` or `EVENT`
`#EXT-X-TARGETDURATION:`	`10`	in seconds
`#EXT-X-VERSION:`	`4`
`#EXT-X-MEDIA-SEQUENCE:`	`0`
`#EXT-X-INDEPENDENT-SEGMENTS`	toggle without parameters
`#EXT-X-MEDIA:`	`NAME='English', TYPE=AUDIO, GROUP-ID='audio-stereo-64', LANGUAGE='en', DEFAULT=YES, AUTOSELECT=YES, URI='english.m3u8'`
`#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:`	`BANDWIDTH=1123000, CODECS='avc1.64001f,mp4a.40.2`	parameters have either one combined value or one per stream, separated by commas
`#EXT-X-BYTERANGE:`	`1024@256000`
`#EXT-X-DISCONTINUITY`	toggle without parameters
`#EXT-X-DISCONTINUITY-SEQUENCE:`	`2`
`#EXT-X-KEY:`	`METHOD=NONE`
`#EXT-X-MAP:`	`URI=MediaInitializationSection`
`#EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME:`	`2010-02-19T14:54:23.031+08:00`	ISO 8601 format
`#EXT-X-DATERANGE:`	`ID=foo`
`#EXT-X-I-FRAMES-ONLY`	i-frame toggle without parameters
`#EXT-X-SESSION-DATA:`	`DATA-ID=com.example.movie.title`
`#EXT-X-SESSION-KEY:`
`#EXT-X-ENDLIST`	end-of-list signal without parameters

M3U8[edit]

The Unicode version of M3U is M3U8, which uses UTF-8-encoded characters. M3U8 files are the basis for the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) format originally developed by Apple to stream video and radio to iOS devices, and which is now a popular format for adaptive streaming in general.

The 2015 proposal for the HLS playlist format uses UTF-8 exclusively and does not distinguish between the 'm3u' and 'm3u8' file name extensions.^[14]

Internet media types[edit]

The only Internet media type registered for M3U and M3U8 is application/vnd.apple.mpegurl, registered in 2009 and only referring to the playlist format as used in HLS applications.^[15]^[16]

The current proposal for the HLS playlist format acknowledges two media types which it treats as equivalent: application/vnd.apple.mpegurl and audio/mpegurl.^[14] Likewise, these are the two types recommended for HLS use by Microsoft.^[17]

For non-HLS

M3u Playlist Maker For Android