Editing ID3 (section)

{{short description|Metadata container}}
{{other uses}}
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{{primary sources|date=June 2015}}
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'''ID3''' is a [[metadata]] container most often used in conjunction with the [[MP3]] [[audio file format]]. It allows information such as the title, artist, album, track number, and other information about the file to be stored in the file itself.

ID3 is a [[de facto standard|''de facto'' standard]] for metadata in MP3 files; no standardization body was involved in its creation nor has such an organization given it a formal approval status.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.id3.org/History |title=History – ID3.org |access-date=2011-01-22 |archive-date=2010-12-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224080318/http://id3.org/History |url-status=dead}}</ref> It competes with the [[APE tag]] in this area.

There are two unrelated versions of ID3: ID3v1 and ID3v2. In ID3v1, the metadata is stored in a 128-[[byte]] segment at the end of the file. In ID3v2, an [[extensible]] set of "frames" located at the start of the file is used. Sub-variants of both versions exist.