Can I edit the tags here?

No, this only reads them. Writing tags means rebuilding the file's container, and doing that badly corrupts the file, so it is being treated as its own piece of work rather than bolted on.

Why does the bitrate look wrong?

Most likely the file is variable bitrate and the figure shown is the average across the whole file, which is the useful number. If the file has no Xing header the average is estimated from its size, which is close but not exact.

Is my file uploaded to be read?

No. The bytes are read in this page and parsed here. Nothing is sent anywhere, which matters for a file whose tags hold a client name or an unreleased title.

Where does the cover art come from?

It is stored inside the file: an APIC frame in an MP3, a PICTURE block in a FLAC, or a covr atom in an M4A. What you see here is that image, extracted and shown at its own size.

Audio Metadata Viewer

Shows what a file says about itself: title and artist, the artwork inside it, and the technical details that decide how it plays. Nothing is decoded, so even a long FLAC is read in a moment.

Choose an audio file or drop it hereMP3, FLAC, M4A, WAV or OGG. Nothing is decoded or uploaded.

Runs entirely in your browser. Your files are never uploaded.

How to use Audio Metadata Viewer

1Choose an audio file, or drag it onto the box.
2Read the tags and the technical details.
3Open the full list to see fields with no standard name.
4Copy everything out as text if you need it elsewhere.

Four containers, four arrangements

There is no shared metadata format in audio, so each container is read on its own terms. An MP3 carries ID3 frames bolted to the front of the file, and sometimes a 128-byte ID3v1 block at the very end. FLAC keeps Vorbis comments in a metadata block. An M4A holds Apple's four-character atoms nested several levels into the MP4 tree. A WAV uses RIFF INFO chunks, when it has any tags at all.

All four come back in one list here, with anything non-standard kept under its own name rather than dropped. A file with no tags is a normal file, particularly one exported from an editor or recorded on a phone.

Details that are read, not guessed

Sample rate, channel count and bit depth come from the file's own header. Duration is the one worth explaining: for a variable bitrate MP3 it comes from the Xing header, which records the real frame count, and without that header it is worked out from the file size and bitrate, which is an estimate and is marked as constant bitrate.

The container is identified from the leading bytes, never from the extension, so a FLAC someone renamed to .mp3 is reported as a FLAC.

Reading only

This tool does not write tags. Changing them means rewriting the container, and a tool that quietly rebuilds a music library's files is a deliberate piece of work rather than a side effect of a viewer. Until it exists, the honest thing is to say what the file holds and leave it alone.

Limits

Reading only. Nothing is written back to the file.
Cover art shows the first image a file carries. A release with several pictures will have the rest listed but not shown.
Lyrics, chapters and ratings frames are not interpreted, though they appear in the full field list.
An AIFF or a WebM is identified but its tags are not parsed.

Frequently asked questions

Can I edit the tags here?: No, this only reads them. Writing tags means rebuilding the file's container, and doing that badly corrupts the file, so it is being treated as its own piece of work rather than bolted on.
Why does the bitrate look wrong?: Most likely the file is variable bitrate and the figure shown is the average across the whole file, which is the useful number. If the file has no Xing header the average is estimated from its size, which is close but not exact.
Is my file uploaded to be read?: No. The bytes are read in this page and parsed here. Nothing is sent anywhere, which matters for a file whose tags hold a client name or an unreleased title.
Where does the cover art come from?: It is stored inside the file: an APIC frame in an MP3, a PICTURE block in a FLAC, or a covr atom in an M4A. What you see here is that image, extracted and shown at its own size.