M3U
file format for media playlists
M3U (MP3 URL) is a computer file format for a multimedia playlist. One common use of the M3U file format is creating a single-entry playlist file pointing to a stream on the Internet. The created file provides easy access to that stream and is often used in downloads from a website, for emailing, and for listening to Internet radio.
Although originally designed for audio files, such as MP3, it is commonly used to point media players to audio and video sources, including online sources. M3U was originally developed by Fraunhofer for use with their WinPlay3 software, but numerous media players and software applications now support the format.
Careless handling of M3U playlists has been the cause of vulnerabilities in many music players such as VLC media player, iTunes, Winamp, and many others.
File format
There is no formal specification for the M3U format; it is a de facto standard.
An M3U file is a plain text file that specifies the locations of one or more media files. The file is saved with the m3u filename extension if the text is encoded in the local system's default non-Unicode encoding (e.g., a Windows codepage), or with the m3u8 extension if the text is UTF-8 encoded. The mp3url extension was originally supported by Winplay3, but fell out of use.
The public source identifies “M3U” as file format for media playlists. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around file, format and media.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1241738. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “M3U” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.