MP3UNICODE(1)

🎀 mp3unicode — the girlies' guide to fixing your MP3 tags 🎀

okay so bestie, listen. this is the mp3unicode(1) page, from the LOCAL manual, and honestly? it's giving "your old mp3 collection from 2007 is full of garbled Cyrillic and you're crying about it." we're gonna fix that. 💅

✨ NAME ✨

mp3unicode — convert MP3 tags to Unicode. that's it. that's the whole job. slay.

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

mp3unicode [options] file1 [file2] [...]

literally just throw your files at it, one or a million, she doesn't care. 👑

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

mp3unicode is a command line utility to convert ID3 tags in mp3 files between different encodings. no cap, that's the entire vibe — your tags were written in some cursed 8-bit encoding from another era, and she will lovingly translate them into Unicode so your music library stops looking like a haunted keyboard smash. 😭

and hey — in order to see the available encodings, you literally just execute:

iconv --list

that's your menu, bestie. go look at it, it's long, it's iconic, it's got range. 🌈

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🦋 OPTIONS 🦋

• -s, --source-encoding <encoding> — read the current mp3 tags assuming they're encoded with <encoding>. <encoding> is either "unicode" or any valid 8bit encoding. so basically you're telling her "hey, past-you wrote this in this encoding, please be gentle." 🫶
• -1, --id3v1-encoding <encoding> — write the id3v1 tag in <encoding>. if <encoding> is "none", then she strips the id3v1 tag away entirely — poof, gone, no trace. 💀 <encoding> may be any valid 8bit encoding, note however that it is not possible to write id3v1 in Unicode. like, at all. that's not a her problem, that's an id3v1 problem. id3v1 is old, it doesn't do Unicode, we don't make the rules. 🙈
• -2, --id3v2-encoding <encoding> — write the id3v2 tag in <encoding>. if <encoding> is "none", then strip the id3v2 tag away. <encoding> may be either "unicode" or any valid 8bit encoding. this one's the flexible main character, she can do both. ✨
• -p, --preserve-unicode — okay this one is lowkey the smartest one. if the source encoding is specified to be some specific encoding and not Unicode, but the actual encoding seems to be Unicode, then assume it is Unicode. e.g., if you want to process a lot of files, some of which are in Unicode (or have Unicode characters somewhere), but some are in cp1251, just issue -s cp1251 -p along with other options. this should work as you would like it to work. fr fr, it just does. 🔥
• -w, --preview — do not modify the files, instead show the tags that would be written. useful to test specified options for correctness. bestie please use this before you let her touch anything precious, it's the "vibe check before we commit" flag. 🧚
• -v, --version — prints version number, compilation date and time. cute little "hi here's who I am" moment. 🎀
• -q, --quiet — do not report what files have been processed. for when you want her to work in silence, mysterious, unbothered, moisturised. 🦋

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👑 EXAMPLE 👑

mp3unicode --source-encoding cp1251 --id3v1-encoding none
--id3v2-encoding unicode file.mp3

will read the id3v2 tag (or id3v1 tag if there is no id3v2) from the file, convert the text fields in the tag from cp1251 to Unicode and will write the id3v2 tag back, stripping away the id3v1 tag.

so to recap in group-chat terms: she reads the good tag (or the backup tag if the good one ghosted), she translates cp1251 → Unicode, she writes the id3v2 tag back like the queen she is, and the id3v1 tag? deleted. evaporated. not invited to the party. 💅✨

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

• the mp3unicode Home Page, http://mp3unicode.sourceforge.net. yes, a sourceforge link, we're vintage, we're authentic, iykyk. 🫶
• iconv(1p) — her cousin. different lane, same bloodline. 🌸

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🍓 AUTHORS AND COPYRIGHT 🍓

Copyright (c) 2005-2012 Alon Bar-Lev <alon.barlev@gmail.com>

Copyright (c) 2005-2012 Andrey Dubovik

All rights reserved.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

bestie this is the legal bit and it is not a vibe, it's a very serious vibe. "AS IS" means if it eats your mp3s, that's on you, not them. no warranty, no refunds, no take-backs. read it, respect it, don't skip it. 💀

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okay and finally, the fine print at the bottom of the page — this manpage is POSIX-compatible, dated Jul 28, 2007, and it belongs to mp3unicode(1). she's been around a minute, she's seen things, and she still slays. mwah. 💖✨🎀