MP3 Tag java library Quick Start

True to the title, this is quick. There are many more read/write/edit options if you go through the JavaDocs or through the code.

Introduction to tags

There are three types of tags found in an MP3 file found in this order:

ID3v2
<MP3 Data>
Lyrics3
ID3v1

In addition, there are different versions for each tag:

ID3v2
- ID3v2.2
- ID3v2.3
- ID3v2.4
Lyrics3
- Lyrics3v1
- Lyrics3v2
ID3v1
- ID3v1.0
- ID3v1.1

Compiling:

If you have ant, there is a build.xml. Type "ant help" for build options.
If you get from CVS, you can use IntelliJ and read jid3lib.ipr

Reading:

    File sourceFile;
    MP3File mp3file = new MP3File(sourceFile);

You can also read specific tags:

    ID3v1_1 tag = new ID3v1_1(sourceFile);
    ID3v1 tag = new ID3v1(sourceFile);
    ID3v2_4 tag = new ID3v2_4(sourceFile);
    ID3v2_3 tag = new ID3v2_3(sourceFile);
    ID3v2_2 tag = new ID3v2_2(sourceFile);
    Lyrics3v2 tag = new Lyrics3v2(sourceFile);
    Lyrics3v1 tag = new Lyrics3v1(sourceFile);

Creating:

    MP3File mp3file = new MP3File();
    TagOptionSingleton.getInstance().setDefaultSaveMode(TagConstant.MP3_FILE_SAVE_OVERWRITE);

    // setup id3v1
    id3v1.setAlbum("albumTitle");

    // setup id3v2
    AbstractID3v2Frame frame;
    AbstractID3v2FrameBody frameBody;
    frameBody = new FrameBodyTALB((byte) 0, "albumTitle");
    frame = new ID3v2_4Frame(frameBody);
    id3v2.setFrame(frame);

    // setup lyrics3v2
    Lyrics3v2Field field;
    AbstractLyrics3v2FieldBody fieldBody;
    fieldBody = new FieldBodyEAL("albumTitle");
    field = new Lyrics3v2Field(fieldBody);
    lyrics3.setField(field);

    // setup filename tag
    frameBody = new FrameBodyTALB((byte) 0, "albumTitle");
    frame = new ID3v2_4Frame(frameBody);
    filenameId3.setFrame(frame);
    TagOptionSingleton.getInstance().setFilenameTagSave(true);

Things to note:

The default save mode is "write but do not delete." This means each field in the object will be saved, but existing fields in the file on disk will not be deleted. The other two are "only append" or "delete and write from scratch."

Editing Part 1:

There are convience methods defined in AbstractMP3Tag to edit common data fields. Not all tags have all fields listed here.

    public abstract String getSongTitle();
    public abstract String getLeadArtist();
    public abstract String getAlbumTitle();
    public abstract String getYearReleased();
    public abstract String getSongComment();
    public abstract String getSongGenre();
    public abstract String getTrackNumberOnAlbum();
    public abstract String getSongLyric();
    public abstract String getAuthorComposer();
    public abstract void setSongTitle(String songTitle);
    public abstract void setLeadArtist(String leadArtist);
    public abstract void setAlbumTitle(String albumTitle);
    public abstract void setYearReleased(String yearReleased);
    public abstract void setSongComment(String songComment);
    public abstract void setSongGenre(String songGenre);
    public abstract void setTrackNumberOnAlbum(String trackNumberOnAlbum);
    public abstract void setSongLyric(String songLyrics);
    public abstract void setAuthorComposer(String authorComposer);

Editing Part 2:

If the field you want is not listed above, you can use these methods.

    id3v1 = mp3file.getID3v1Tag();
    id3v2 = mp3file.getID3v2Tag();
    lyrics3 = mp3file.getLyrics3Tag();

ID3v1 tags have fixed fields and use accessor methods to change it's properties.

ID3v2 tags have multiple frames. Use this to set the title of the tag.

    frame = id3v2.getFrame("TIT2");
    ((FrameBodyTIT2) frame.getBody()).setText("New Title");

Lyrics3 tags have multiple fields. Use this to set the title of the tag.

    field = lyrics3.getField("ETT");
    ((FieldBodyETT) field.getBody()).setTitle("New Title");

Writing:

    mp3file.save();

You can also save each individual tag through each tags' save() method.

Reference:

Here is a mapping of the commonly used fields

Field Name	ID3v1	ID3v1.1	ID3v2.2	ID3v2.3	ID3v2.4	Lyrics3v1	Lyrics3v2
Song Title	title	title	TT2	TIT2	TIT2	--	ETT
Lead Artist	artist	artist	TP1	TPE1	TPE1	--	EAR
Album Title	album	album	TAL	TALB	TALB	--	EAL
Year Released	year	year	TYE	TYER	TDRC	--	--
Comment	comment	comment	COM	COMM	COMM	--	INF
Song Genre	genre	genre	TCO	TCON	TCON	--	--
Track number on album	--	track	TRK	TRCK	TRCK	--	--
Lyrics	--	--	SYL or ULT	SYLT or USLT	SYLT or USLT	lyric	LYR
Author / Composer	--	--	TCM	TCOM	TCOM	--	AUT