Read ID3 (version 2 only) from an MP3 File

Reads in the ID3 tags from an MP3 file. It can only handle ID3v2 tags.

This is an UPDATE of the original version by Tom Gaudette.

TAGFRAMES = ID3PARSE(FILENAME);

Opens the file whose path is given by FILENAME for reading, reads the meta-data stored in the ID3 Tag, and returns it in the structure TAGFRAMES. The structure's fields represent the titles of the various "frames" of information stored in the tag, the values of which are the associated data. Recognized frame's are given user friendly names (e.g., the TPE1 frame is labeled as 'Artist', TCON frame is labeled 'Genre') and have their data converted as appropriate. Unrecognized frames use the given 4 character frame identifier and their values are given as text (which may or may not be appropriate, depending on the content of the frame).

ID3 Tags are a standard which has largely been adopted throughout the digital media world as a means of storing meta data about digital media such as MP3 audio files and MPEG video files. ID3 Tags live in the byte sequence that makes up a file, usually at the beginning of the file (which is the only place I look for it in this script). They do not affect the remainder of the content in the file, for instance, and MP3 file's ID3 tag cannot affect the audio data stored in the file. Data stored in an ID3 Tag can be wide ranging: from the Artists and Album names, to the copyright information, even synchronized lyrics that can be presented in time to the music.