M3U( .M3U) - File Extension Information

M3U was originally developed in late 1990s as a standard playlist format for MP3s, although its use has since then expanded beyond MP3s.

The .m3u files are basically just textfiles that list one MP3 or other media file on each line, normally with full path or URL to the file. If the .m3u file is loaded to an MP3 player, the player normally plays the list of media files in the order they are listed in the playlist (unless options such as "randomize" have been selected in the MP3 player).

M3U is a media queue format, also generally known to humans as a playlist. It is the default playlist save format of WinAMP and most other media programs. It allows multiple files to be queued in a program in a specific format.

The actual format is really simple, though; not complicated at all. A sample M3U list could be:

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:111,3rd Bass - Al z A-B-Cee z
mp3/3rd Bass/3rd bass - Al z A-B-Cee z.mp3
#EXTINF:462,Apoptygma Berzerk - Kathy?s song (VNV Nation rmx)
mp3/Apoptygma Berzerk/Apoptygma Berzerk - Kathy's Song (Victoria Mix by VNV Nation).mp3
#EXTINF:394,Apoptygma Berzerk - Kathy's Song
mp3/Apoptygma Berzerk/Apoptygma Berzerk - Kathy's Song.mp3
#EXTINF:307,Apoptygma Bezerk - Starsign
mp3/Apoptygma Berzerk/Apoptygma Berzerk - Starsign.mp3
#EXTINF:282,Various_Artists - Butthole Surfers: They Came In
mp3/Butthole_Surfers-They_Came_In.mp3

The First line, "#EXTM3U" is thees format dcriptor, in this case M3U (or Extended M3U as it can be called). It does not change, it's always this.

The second and third operate in a pair. The second begins "#EXTINF:" which serves as the record marker. The "#EXTINF" is unchanging. After the colon is a number: this number is the length of the track in whole seconds (not minutes:seconds or anything else. Then comes a comma and the name of the tune (not the FILE NAME). A good list generator will suck this data from the ID3 tag if there is one, and if not it will take the file name with the extension chopped off.

The second line of this pair (the third line) is the actual file name of the media in question. In this example they aren't fully qualified because I run this list by typing "noatun foo.m3u" in the home directory and the music is in ~/mp3, so it just follows the paths as relative from the path of invocation.

M3U Player - Winamp

While other applications seem to work fine, we rank Winamp highest. There are many versions of Winamp available for download on the Internet. The latest versions of Winamp are popular because there are a large supply of Skinz available for them. You can download Winamp from the winamp.com website.

M3U Recorder - Mini-stream Ripper

• Record live online radio streams like Windows Media, Real Audio, Winamp Shoutcast.
• Save streams as RM, MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG or FLAC audio files.
• Split and name songs by stream's title automatically.
• Free drag and drop features
  
• More Features...

M3U Ripper/Downloader/Capturer - CastRipper

• Download live online radio streams like Winamp SHOUTcast, Icecast.
• Split songs by stream's title automatically.
• Automatically tags songs with title, artist, album and genre information.
• More features...

How to download/save/capture/record/rip M3U audio streams

You can select one of the aboving products to record m3u audio stream. Here we give an example of CastRipper.

1. Open CastRipper
2. If you have downloaded the m3u file which you want to record, drag the file on CastRipper(CR)'s UI. CR will load the stream automatically.
   
3. If you prefer to manually enter the m3u file's address directly into CR, click on the Load button on the left of CR's screen to open the URL Loading screen. In the "Load" box that opens, type in: "http://audio.photon.net:8000/dolphinville-radio.m3u". Then click 'ok', CR will load the stream for you.
   
4. If you want to record the stream which Winamp is playing, single right-click in any blank area on the Winamp interface. Choose "View file info...", Copy "http://audio.photon.net:8000/dolphinville-radio" in the MP3 Stream Info Box. Paste the address "http://audio.photon.net:8000/dolphinville-radio" in the CR's loading url box. Then click 'ok', CR will load the stream for you.
5. If the stream has been sucessfully loaded, you'll get the message "Please press 'Start' to start downloading". If not, you'll get an error message.
6. Click on the Start button on the right of CR's screen to start ripping.