Audio Information

Tag Frame Reference

This document contains a reference and comparison chart of the different (proposed) tag frames to be used in the Matroska, ID3v2.x, Vorbis, APEv2 and Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF) tags. The Dublin Core elements are included as well.

Note that this list is still unfinished and being worked on. Please let me know if this document contains any errors so far.
Three discussions have been started about this matter:

This document is a compilation of information which is available in the documents listed below.

Legend
Marking Explanation
1 Unofficial though generally accepted/used tags
2 Symbolic names as used in foobar2000 to be more descriptive
3 Combined in one frame separated by a slash '/'
4 Combined in one frame separated by a slash '/'
5 The same frame can be used for different date indications. Add a space after the date and any text to describe the type of date
6 There is no destinction between the encoder setting and the software or hardware
7 Nested in ORIGINAL level
8 Nested in ARTIST
9 Nested in PUBLISHER
10 Nested in ORIGINAL_MEDIA_TYPE
11 Nested in COPYRIGHT
12 Nested in ARTIST, LEAD_PERFORMER or ACCOMPANIMENT
  Not "officially" confirmed being a correct mapping
  Nested Information (tags contained in other tags)
Tag Frame Reference
Matroska ID3v2.4.0 Vorbis APEv2 RIFF iTunes AAC Dublin Core Description
© 2004-2007 by Age Bosma
Organizational Information
PART_NUMBER                 Number of the current part of the current level.
PART_NUMBER TRACKNUMBER[2][3] TRCK TRACKNUMBER TRACK IPRT[1] trkn     Number of the current part of the current level.
PART_NUMBER DISCNUMBER[2][4] TPOS DISCNUMBER[1]     disk     A numerical value indicating which number of media this item came from; e.g. if part of a multi-disc album.
PART_NUMBER     PARTNUMBER[1]           Part number of a division within a work; e.g. a movement of a symphony.
TOTAL_PARTS TOTALDISCS[2][4] TPOS       disk     Total number of parts of the current level.
TOTAL_PARTS TOTALTRACKS[2][3] TRCK     IFRM[1] trkn     Total number of parts of the current level.
Titles
TITLE             title   Title of item; e.g. album title or track title.
TITLE TITLE TIT2 TITLE TITLE INAM ©nam title   Title of item; e.g. album title or track title.
SORT_WITH TITLESORTORDER TSOT       sonm     Defines a string which should be used instead of the title for sorting purposes.
TITLE ALBUM TALB ALBUM ALBUM   ©alb title   The collection name to which this track belongs.
SORT_WITH ALBUMSORTORDER TSOA       soal     Defines a string which should be used instead of the album name for sorting purposes.
ALBUM[7] ORIGALBUM TOAL         title   Original album/movie/show title (In case of a remake/remix).
TITLE     PART[1]       title   Division within a work; e.g. a movement of a symphony. Some tracks contain several parts.
SUBTITLE             title alternative Subtitle of the entity. May also be used to differentiate multiple versions of the same tracktitle in a single collection (e.g. remix info); e.g. "live", "acoustic", "radio edit", "12 inch remix", etc.
SUBTITLE SUBTITLE TIT3 VERSION SUBTITLE     title alternative Subtitle of the entity. May also be used to differentiate multiple versions of the same tracktitle in a single collection (e.g. remix info); e.g. "live", "acoustic", "radio edit", "12 inch remix", etc.
SUBTITLE SETSUBTITLE TSST         title alternative Intended for the subtitle of the part of a set this track belongs to.
- defined by the Target types -     OPUS[1]       title   The number of the work; e.g. "Opus 10, BVW 81, K6".
        DEBUT ALBUM     title   Debut Album name.
TITLE           tvsh     Name of the show.
SORT_WITH           sosn     Show name sort order.
Entities
ARTIST ARTIST TPE1 ARTIST ARTIST   ©ART     A person or band/collective generally considered responsible for the work.
SORT_WITH PERFORMERSORTORDER TSOP       soar     Defines a string which should be used instead of the performer for sorting purposes.
URL[8] WWWARTIST WOAR             Official artist/performer webpage.
ARTIST[7] ORIGARTIST TOPE             Original artist(s)/performer(s).
LEAD_PERFORMER     PERFORMER           Lead Performer/Soloist(s). This can sometimes be the same as ARTIST.
ACCOMPANIMENT BAND TPE2 ENSEMBLE[1]     aART     Band/orchestra/accompaniment/musician.
SORT_WITH           soaa     Album Artist sort order.
COMPOSER COMPOSER TCOM COMPOSER[1] COMPOSER IMUS[1] ©wrt creator   Name of the original composer.
SORT_WITH           soco     Composer sort order.
ARRANGER     ARRANGER[1]       creator   The person who arranged the piece; e.g. "Ravel".
LYRICIST LYRICIST TEXT LYRICIST[1]       creator   The person who wrote the lyrics for a musical item.
LYRICIST[7] ORIGLYRICIST TOLY             Original lyricist(s)/text writer(s).
CONDUCTOR CONDUCTOR TPE3 CONDUCTOR[1] CONDUCTOR         The artist(s) who performed the work. In classical music this would be the conductor, orchestra, soloists.
ACTOR                 Real name of actor or actress playing a role in the movie.
CHARACTER                 Name of the character an actor or actress plays in this movie.
WRITTEN_BY     AUTHOR[1]   IWRI[1]   creator   The author of the story or script.
SCREENPLAY_BY                 The author of the screenplay or scenario (used for movies and TV shows).
DIRECTOR         IART       Name of the director.
ASSISTANT_DIRECTOR                 Name of the assistant director.
DIRECTOR_OF_PHOTOGRAPHY         ICNM[1]       The name of the director of photography, also known as cinematographer.
ART_DIRECTOR                 The person who oversees the artists and craftspeople who build the sets.
EDITED_BY         IEDT[1]        
PRODUCER         IPRO[1]       Name of the producer of the movie.
COPRODUCER                 The name of a co-producer.
EXECUTIVE_PRODUCER                 The name of an executive producer.
PRODUCTION_DESIGNER         IPDS[1]       Artist responsible for designing the overall visual appearance of a movie.
COSTUME_DESIGNER         ICDS[1]       The name of the costume designer.
CHOREGRAPHER                 The name of the choregrapher.
SOUND_ENGINEER                 The name of the sound engineer or sound recordist.
MASTERED_BY                 The engineer who mastered the content for a physical medium or for digital distribution.
REMIXED_BY MIXARTIST TPE4             Interpreted, remixed, or otherwise modified by.
PRODUCTION_STUDIO         ISTD[1]        
LABEL     ORGANIZATION
LABEL[1]
          The record label or imprint on the disc.
PUBLISHER PUBLISHER TPUB PUBLISHER[1] PUBLISHER     publisher   Name of the organization producing the track (i.e. the 'record label').
URL[9] WWWPUBLISHER WPUB             Publishers official webpage.
DISTRIBUTED_BY         IDST[1]        
ENCODED_BY ENCODEDBY TENC ENCODED-BY[1]   ITCH ©too creator   Name of the person or organisation that encoded/ripped the audio file.
THANKS_TO             contributor   A very general tag for everyone else that wants to be listed.
  INVOLVEDPEOPLE2 TIPL             Intended as a mapping between functions and the name of the person who fulfilled the function.
INSTRUMENTS[12] MUSICIANCREDITLIST TMCL             Intended as a mapping between instruments and the musician that played it.
          ICMS       Commissioned. Lists the name of the person or organization that commissioned the subject of the file; e.g. "Pope Julian II".
          IENG       Engineer. Stores the name of the engineer who worked on the file.
          ISRC       Source. Identifies the name of the person or organization who supplied the original subject of the file. For example, "Trey Research."
          ISTR[1]       Starring
Contact Information
URL                 URL corresponding to the tag it's included in.
EMAIL                 Email corresponding to the tag it's included in.
ADDRESS                 The physical address of the entity. The address should include a country code. It can be useful for a recording label.
PHONE                 The phone number corresponding to the tag it's included in. It can be useful for a recording label.
FAX                 The fax number corresponding to the tag it's included in. It can be useful for a recording label.
- nested using the Contact Information elements -     CONTACT           Contact information for the creators or distributors of the track. This could be a URL, an email address, the physical address of the producing label.
Search/Classification
GENRE GENRE[2] TCON GENRE     ©gen     The main genre of the audio or video; e.g. "classical", "ambient-house", "synthpop", "sci-fi", "drama", etc. (see Genre List from ID3v1)
MOOD MOOD TMOO             Intended to reflect the mood of the item with a few keywords, e.g. "Romantic", "Sad", "Uplifting", etc.
ORIGINAL_MEDIA_TYPE MEDIATYPE TMED SOURCEMEDIA[1]   ISRF   source   Identifies the original recording media form from which the material originated, such as "CD", "cassette", "LP", "radio broadcast", "slide", "paper", etc.
URL[10] WWWAUDIOSOURCE WOAS             Official audio source webpage; e.g. a movie.
CONTENT_TYPE             type   The type of the item. e.g. Documentary, Feature Film, Cartoon, Music Video, Music, Sound FX, etc.
SUBJECT         ISBJ   subject   Describes the topic of the file, such as "Aerial view of Seattle.".
SYNOPSIS                 A description of the story line of the item.
SUMMARY       ABSTRACT     description abstract A plot outline or a summary of the story.
DESCRIPTION     DESCRIPTION     desc description   A short description of the contents, such as "Two birds flying".
KEYWORDS         IKEY keyw     Keywords to the item separated by a comma, used for searching.
PERIOD             coverage temporal Describes the period that the piece is from or about; e.g. "Renaissance".
SORT_WITH                 A child element to indicate what alternative value the parent tag (person, band, album, etc.) can have to be sorted; e.g. "The Beatles" => "Beatles, The", "Bob Marley" => "Marley, Bob"
INSTRUMENTS                 The instruments that are being used/played, separated by a comma. It should be a child of the following tags: ARTIST, LEAD_PERFORMER or ACCOMPANIMENT.
LAW_RATING         IRTD[1]   audience   Depending on the country it's the format of the rating of a movie (P, R, X in the USA, an age in other countries or a URI defining a logo).
ICRA             audience   The ICRA rating. (Previously RSACi)
  LANGUAGE TLAN   LANGUAGE ILNG[1]   language   Language(s) of the item in the bibliographic ISO-639-2 form.
  CONTENTGROUP TIT1       ©grp type   Used if the sound belongs to a larger category of sounds/music. For example, classical music is often sorted in different musical sections; e.g. "Piano Concerto", "Weather - Hurricane".
          IGNR   description   Genre. Describes the original work, such as, "landscape," "portrait," "still life," etc.
          IMED   source   Medium. Describes the original subject of the file, such as, "computer image," "drawing," "lithograph," and so forth. Not necessarily the same as ISRF.
          IPRD   title   Product. Specifies the name of the title the file was originally intended for, such as "Encyclopedia of Pacific Northwest Geography."
          ICNT[1]       Country
              audience mediator A class of entity that mediates access to the resource and for whom the resource is intended or useful.
              audience educationLevel Audience Education Level
              description tableOfContents A list of subunits of the content of the resource.
            catg     (Podcast) category.
Temporal Information
DATE_WRITTEN     DATE[1][5]   ICRD   date created The time that the composition of the music/script began. Information should be stored in the ISO 8601 format: "YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss"; e.g. "2003-04-01T13:01:02" or "2003-04".
DATE_RECORDED RECORDINGTIME TDRC DATE RECORD DATE   ©day date created The time that the recording began. (See DATE_WRITTEN for format information)
DATE_RELEASED RELEASETIME TDRL DATE[1][5] YEAR     date issued The time that the item was originaly released. (See DATE_WRITTEN for format information)
DATE_DIGITIZED     DATE[1][5]   IDIT[1]   date created The time that the item was tranfered to a digitalmedium. (See DATE_WRITTEN for format information)
DATE_ENCODED ENCODINGTIME TDEN DATE[1][5]       date created The time that the encoding of this item was completed began. (See DATE_WRITTEN for format information)
DATE_TAGGED TAGGINGTIME TDTG DATE[1][5]       date   The time that the tags were done for this item. (See DATE_WRITTEN for format information)
DATE_PURCHASED     DATE[1][5]     purd date   Information on when the file was purchased. (See DATE_WRITTEN for format information)
DATE_RELEASED[7] ORIGRELEASETIME TDOR             Contains a timestamp describing when the original recording of the audio was released.
              date valid Date (often a range) of validity of a resource.
              date available Date (often a range) that the resource will become or did become available.
              date modified Date on which the resource was changed.
              date dateCopyrighted Date of a statement of copyright.
              date dateSubmitted Date of submission of the resource (e.g. thesis, articles, etc.).
Spacial Information
COMPOSITION_LOCATION             coverage spatial Location that the item was originaly designed/written. Information should be stored in the following format: "country code, state/province, city" where the coutry code is the same 2 octets as in Internet domains, or possibly ISO-3166; e.g. "US, Texas, Austin" or "US, , Austin".
RECORDING_LOCATION     LOCATION RECORD LOCATION     coverage spatial Location where track was recorded. (See COMPOSITION_LOCATION for format)
COMPOSER_NATIONALITY             coverage   Nationality of the main composer of the item, mostly for classical music.
Personal Information
COMMENT COMMENT COMM COMMENT[1] COMMENT ICMT ©cmt     Any comment related to the content.
RATING POPULARIMETER POPM             A numeric value defining how much a person likes the song/movie. The number is between 0 and 5 with decimal values possible (e.g. 2.7), 5(.0) being the highest possible rating.
PLAY_COUNTER PLAYCOUNTER PCNT             The number of time the item has been played.
Technical Information
ENCODER ENCODERSETTINGS[6] TSSE             The software or hardware used to encode this item; e.g. "LAME" or "XviD"
ENCODER_SETTINGS ENCODERSETTINGS[6] TSSE ENCODING[1]       format   A list of the settings used for encoding this item. No specific format.
BPS             format   The average bits per second of the specified item.
FPS             format   The average frames per second of the specified item.
- stored in Duration - SONGLEN TLEN         format extent Length of the audio file in milliseconds.
- stored in TrackType + CodecID + CodecName - FILETYPE TFLT         format   Indicates, by defined codes, which type of audio this tag defines; e.g. "MPEG Audio" (default), "MPEG 1/2 layer III", "Advanced Audio Compression", etc.
- stored in Meta Seek Information elements - SEEKFRAME SEEK             This frame indicates where other tags in a file/stream can be found.
- stored in SeekHead and Cues - MPEGLOOKUP MLLT             MPEG location lookup table to increase performance and accuracy of jumps within an audio file.
- stored in Cues - AUDIOSEEKPOINT ASPI             Makes seeking in audio files with variable bit rates easier using an audio seek point index.
- stored in TrackOffset - PLAYLISTDELAY TDLY             Defines the numbers of milliseconds of silence that should be inserted before this audio.
  EVENTTIMING ETCO             Allows synchronisation with key events in the audio.
  SYNCEDTEMPO SYTC             Synchronised tempo codes for a more accurate description of the tempo of a musical piece.
  POSITIONSYNC POSS             Delivers information to the listener of how far into the audio stream he picked up.
  BUFFERSIZE RBUF             Buffer size recommended by the server using this frame (in case of streaming).
          IDPI   format   Dots Per Inch. Stores dots per inch setting of the digitizer used to produce the file, such as "300."
          ILGT   format   Lightness. Describes the changes in lightness settings on the digitizer required to produce the file. Note that the format of this information depends on hardware used.
          IPLT   format   Palette Setting. Specifies the number of colors requested when digitizing an image, such as "256."
          ISHP   format   Sharpness. Identifies the changes in sharpness for the digitizer required to produce the file (the format depends on the hardware used).
- stored in PixelCropBottom + PixelCropTop + PixelCropLeft + PixelCropRight -         ICRP       Cropped. Describes whether an image has been cropped and, if so, how it was cropped. For example, "lower right corner."
          IDIM       Dimensions. Specifies the size of the original subject of the file. For example, "8.5 in h, 11 in w."
          ISMP       SMPTE time code defined by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers in the SMPTE 12M specification.
              format medium The material or physical carrier of the resource.
Musical Information
BPM BPM TBPM       tmpo format   Average number of beats per minute in the complete target (e.g. a chapter). Usually a decimal number.
MEASURE             format   In music, a measure is a unit of time in Western music like "4/4". It represents a regular grouping of beats, a meter, as indicated in musical notation by the time signature.. The majority of the contemporary rock and pop music you hear on the radio these days is written in the 4/4 time signature.
TUNING             format   It is saved as a frequency in hertz to allow near-perfect tuning of instruments to the same tone as the musical piece (e.g. "441.34" in Hertz). The default value is 440.0 Hz.
INITIAL_KEY INITIALKEY TKEY             The initial key that a musical track starts in.
Amplification Controls
REPLAYGAIN_GAIN VOLUMEADJ2 RVA2             The gain to apply to reach 89db SPL on playback. Based on the Replay Gain standard. Note that ReplayGain information can be found at all TargetType levels (track, album, etc).
REPLAYGAIN_PEAK                 The maximum absolute peak value of the item. Based on the Replay Gain standard.
  REVERB RVRB             Subjective frame that allows you to adjust echoes of different kinds.
  EQUALIZATION2 EQU2             Subjective alignment frame to predefine an equalisation curve within the audio file.
Identifiers
ISRC ISRC TSRC ISRC ISRC     identifier   International Standard Recording Code, excluding the "ISRC" prefix and including hyphens.
MCDI CDID MCDI         identifier   Binary dump of the TOC of the CDROM that this item was taken from.
ISBN       ISBN     identifier   International Standard Book Number.
BARCODE     EAN/UPN[1] EAN/UPC     identifier   EAN-13 (13-digit European Article Numbering) or UPC-A (12-digit Universal Product Code) bar code identifier.
LCCN             identifier   Library of Congress Control Number.
CATALOG_NUMBER     LABELNO[1] CATALOG     identifier   A label-specific catalogue number used to identify the release; e.g. "TIC 01".
LABEL_CODE       LC     identifier   A 4-digit or 5-digit number to identify the record label, typically printed as (LC) xxxx or (LC) 0xxxx on CDs medias or covers, with only the number being stored.
  UNIQUEFILEID UFID         identifier   Contains an 'Owner identifier' URL followed by an ID to identify the audio file in a database, that may provide more information relevant to the content.
              identifier bibliographicCitation A bibliographic reference for the resource.
            egid     Podcast episode GUID.
Commercial Information
PURCHASE_INFO WWWCOMMERCIALINFO WCOM             Commercial information about this item.
PURCHASE_PRICE                 The amount paid for entity. There should only be a numeric value in here; e.g. "15.59" instead of "$15.59USD".
PURCHASE_CURRENCY                 The ISO-4217 currency type used to pay for the entity.
PURCHASE_ITEM WWWPAYMENT WPAY             URL to purchase this item.
PURCHASE_OWNER FILEOWNER TOWN             Information on the person who purchased the file.
  COMMERCIAL COMR             Commercial frame to store several competing offers in the same tag.
COPYRIGHT COPYRIGHT TCOP COPYRIGHT COPYRIGHT ICOP cprt rights   Copyright attribution.
PRODUCTION_COPYRIGHT PRODUCEDNOTICE TPRO   PUBLICATIONRIGHT     rights   The copyright information as per the productioncopyright holder.
TERMS_OF_USE TERMSOFUSE USER LICENSE       rights accessRights License information, e.g., "All Rights Reserved","Any Use Permitted".
URL[11] WWWCOPYRIGHT WCOP             Copyright/legal information.
  OWNERSHIP OWNE         rights   Might be used as a reminder of a made transaction or, if signed, as proof. Note that the "USER" and "TOWN" frames are good to use in conjunction with this one.
Relational Information
              relation   A reference to a related resource.
              relation isVersionOf The described resource is a version, edition, or adaptation of the referenced resource. Changes in version imply substantive changes in content rather than differences in format.
              relation hasVersion The described resource has a version, edition, or adaptation, namely, the referenced resource.
              relation isReplacedBy The described resource is supplanted, displaced, or superseded by the referenced resource.
              relation replaces The described resource supplants, displaces, or supersedes the referenced resource.
              relation isRequiredBy The described resource is required by the referenced resource, either physically or logically.
              relation requires The described resource requires the referenced resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence of content.
              relation isPartOf The described resource is a physical or logical part of the referenced resource.
              relation hasPart The described resource includes the referenced resource either physically or logically.
              relation isReferencedBy The described resource is referenced, cited, or otherwise pointed to by the referenced resource.
              relation references The described resource references, cites, or otherwise points to the referenced resource.
              relation isFormatOf The described resource is the same intellectual content of the referenced resource, but presented in another format.
              relation hasFormat The described resource pre-existed the referenced resource, which is essentially the same intellectual content presented in another format.
              relation conformsTo A reference to an established standard to which the resource conforms.
Encryption Information
- stored in ContentEncryption - AUDIOCRYPTO AENC             Indicates if the actual audio stream is encrypted, and by whom.
- stored in ContentEncAlgo - CRYPTOREG ENCR             To identify with which method a frame has been encrypted.
  GROUPINGREG GRID             Enables grouping of otherwise unrelated frames; e.g. when some frames are to be signed.
  SIGNATURE SIGN             Enables a group of frames, grouped with GROUPINGREG, to be signed.
Miscellaneous Information
- stored in Attachment elements - UNSYNCEDLYRICS USLT       ©lyr     Contains the lyrics of the song or a text transcription of other vocal activities.
- muxed with audio as subtitles - SYNCEDLYRICS SYLT             Synchronised lyrics/text.
- stored in Attachment elements - PICTURE APIC       covr     Contains a picture directly related to the audio file.
- stored in Attachment elements - GENERALOBJECT GEOB             In this frame any type of file can be encapsulated.
  PRIVATE PRIV             Contains information used by a program which does not fit into the other frames.
  USERTEXT TXXX             User defined text information frame.
  LINKEDINFO LINK             Used to link information from another ID3v2 tag.
  ORIGFILENAME TOFN             Contains the preferred filename for the file
  NETRADIOSTATION TRSN             Contains the name of the internet radio station from which the audio is streamed.
  NETRADIOOWNER TRSO             Contains the name of the owner of the internet radio station from which the audio is streamed.
  WWWRADIOPAGE WORS             Official internet radio station homepage.
- nested using URL - WWWUSER WXXX     IWEB[1]       User defined URL link frame.
  WWWAUDIOFILE WOAF       purl     URL pointing at a file specific webpage (official audio file webpage).
        RELATED         Location of related information.
        BIBLIOGRAPHY         Bibliography/Discography.
        INTROPLAY         Characteristic part of piece for intro playing.
- stored in WritingApp -         ISFT       Software. Identifies the name of the software package used to create the file, such as "Microsoft WaveEdit."
          IARL       Archival Location. Indicates where the subject of the file is archived.
          IAS1[1]       Identifies the name of the language of the first audio stream.
          IAS2[1]       Identifies the name of the language of the second audio stream.
          IAS3[1]       Identifies the name of the language of the third audio stream.
          IAS4[1]       Identifies the name of the language of the fourth audio stream.
          IAS5[1]       Identifies the name of the language of the fifth audio stream.
          IAS6[1]       Identifies the name of the language of the sixth audio stream.
          IAS7[1]       Identifies the name of the language of the seventh audio stream.
          IAS8[1]       Identifies the name of the language of the eighth audio stream.
          IAS9[1]       Identifies the name of the language of the ninth audio stream.
          ICAS[1]       Identifies the common audio stream. For example when the value is set to '2' the 2nd audio stream, defined by IAS1 to IAS9, will be played by default. '0' is the local machine language.
          IBSU[1]       Base URL.
          ILGU[1]       Logo URL.
          ILIU[1]       Logo Icon URL.
          IWMU[1]       Watermark URL.
          IMIU[1]       More Info URL.
          IMBI[1]       More Info Banner Image.
          IMBU[1]       More Info Banner URL.
          IMIT[1]       More Info Text.
            cpil     Boolean to mark tracks as part of a compilation.
            pcst     Boolean to mark tracks as part of a gapless album.
            pgap     Boolean to mark tracks being a podcast.
Not Grouped (yet)
        FILE         File location.
        MEDIA         Source, Source Media Number/Total Media Number,Source Time.
- stored in Meta Seek Information elements and Cues -       INDEX         Indexes for quick access.