Sustainability of Digital Formats
 Planning for Library of Congress Collections

Format Description Categories >> Browse Alphabetical List >> Back

Identification and description

Full name	ID3 Metadata for MP3, Version 1
Description	Structured data chunk containing descriptive metadata about the file to which it is post-pended, virtually always an MP3_FF (MP3 sound file). Referred to by its creators as an "informal standard," ID3v1 permits the identification of title, artist, date, genre, etc. and so on. See Notes for more information.
Production phase	Generally used for final-state, end-user delivery.
Relationship to other formats
Subtype of	ID3, ID3 Metadata for MP3
Used by	MP3_FF, MP3 file format

Local use

LC experience or existing holdings	See ID3
LC preference	See ID3

Sustainability factors

Disclosure	Version 1 partially documented. Developed by Martin Nilsson and colleagues, whose ID3.org web site is now strongly oriented to ID3v2, version 2.
Documentation	Documentation for version 1 available at ID3.org and Doug's AppleScripts for iTunes.
Adoption	Very widely adopted for World Wide Web dissemination and playback on specialized devices.
Licensing and patent claims	None
Transparency	See ID3
Self-documentation	See ID3
External dependencies	None
Technical protection considerations	None

Quality and functionality factors

Normal rendering for sound	Not applicable
Fidelity (support for high audio resolution)	Not applicable
Support for multiple sound channels	Not applicable
Support for downloadable or user-defined sounds, samples, and patches	Not applicable
Functionality beyond normal rendering for sound	None

File type signifiers

Tag type	Value	Note
Filename Extension	Not applicable
Internet Media Type	Not applicable
Magic numbers	Not applicable	See 3DI marker information in Notes below.

Notes

General

ID3v1 binary content is structured as "frames" just like MP3_ENC (MP3 audio encoding). Version 1 is limited to 125 bytes of data; four tags are limited to 30 bytes, one to 4 bytes, and the genre tag to a one-byte code. When ID3 metadata is placed in a MP3_FF file, established conventions call for the use of the ID3 marker which consists of the string "3DI". For ID3v1, the marker is positioned 10 bytes preceding the metadata. For ID3v2 data, the marker is positioned in the first 3 bytes of the file when the metadata is pre-pended and 10 bytes from the end of a file when it is post-pended.

History

Format specifications

URLs
Print

Useful references

URLs
• ID3v1 page at ID3.org (http://www.id3.org/ID3v1)
• ID3v1 notes at Doug's AppleScripts for iTunes (http://www.dougscripts.com/itunes/itinfo/id3tags00.php).
• ID3.org web site (http://www.id3.org/).

Print