MP3 - ID3 and Other Tags

ID3 and Other Tags

Main articles: ID3 and APEv2 tag

A "tag" in an audio file is a section of the file that contains metadata such as the title, artist, album, track number or other information about the file's contents. The MP3 standards do not define tag formats for MP3 files, nor is there a standard container format that would support metadata and obviate the need for tags.

However, several de facto standards for tag formats exist. As of 2010, the most widespread are ID3v1 and ID3v2, and the more recently introduced APEv2. These tags are normally embedded at the beginning or end of MP3 files, separate from the actual MP3 frame data. MP3 decoders normally either read info from the tags, or just treat them as ignorable, non-MP3 junk data.

Playing & editing software often contains tag editing functionality, but there are also tag editor applications dedicated to the purpose.

Aside from metadata pertaining to the audio content, tags may also be used for DRM.