Ah! I have a weird format that I need to convert to mp3! Does anyone know how I can?

Question

The format is is .m3u
I don't know if there's even a way to do that, but if someone could show me a way, I would be very grateful!!
Thanks!

Answer 1

M3U is a media queue format, also generally known to humans as a playlist. It is the default playlist save format of WinAMP and most other media programs. It allows multiple files to be queued in a program in a specific format.



In plain english it is exactly as it sounds -- a list of what will be played, like a set list at a concert.



You really can't, not out of the file itself. The M3U file is just a list of other files and doesn't store any of the music or sound information inside itself. You can read the M3U file and then see which files are listed and get the music from those, however -- if you can find those files that is.

Answer 2

Not sure if this is what you are looking for or not... That format, .m3u, is not actually a music file but is a playlist file that contains a list of .mp3s or other audio files that you then play within an audio file player such as Winamp or iTunes. .m3u is really just a list of song titles without any actual audio data. So if you just have the .m3u file on your computer but not the audio files it lists, you can't convert it. But if the .m3u lists songs that are already on your computer, then you already have the .mp3s and don't need to convert the .m3u. Or, if the .m3u file is a link on the internet try using this Mozilla add-on, the hyperlink should explain how to use it, but you must use Mozilla, which is better than IE anyways.



https://add ons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3023



But make sure you don't violate any copyright laws!!!



Hope this helps.

Answer 3

.m3u is a playlist format. If you open the file in Notepad or any other text editor, you should just see a listing of filenames. How big is the file? Probably just a couple of kilobytes.



There shouldn't be any audio in that file to convert whatsoever, sorry.

Answer 4

Try something like this.



http://www.download.com/Easy-MP3-Converter/3000-2140_4-10184089.html?tag=lst-0-1



However, I'm not sure if that will work. I'm pretty sure .m3u is a playlist file extension, which means it doesn't actually contain music, it just references existing music files elsewhere.

Answer 5

It is a playlist file format, not the actual audio file itself.



see http://hanna.pyxidis.org/tech/m3u.html

Answer 6

if it wont play, it could be just a link. most media players will play that format.