Meziantou.Framework

Getting started

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Install the package

Add the Meziantou.Framework.MediaTags package to a project:

dotnet package add Meziantou.Framework.MediaTags

The examples of this documentation omit the using directives: they need using Meziantou.Framework.MediaTags;.

Read the tags of a file

MediaFile.ReadTags detects the format of the file and returns a result. Check IsSuccess, then read the tags from Value:

var result = MediaFile.ReadTags("TestFiles/basic.flac");
Assert.True(result.IsSuccess, $"{result.Error}: {result.ErrorMessage}");

var tags = result.Value;
Assert.Equal(MediaFormat.Flac, tags.Format);
Assert.True(tags.Duration > TimeSpan.Zero);
Assert.Equal("Test Title", tags.Title);
Assert.Equal("Test Artist", tags.Artist);

When the file cannot be read, Error and ErrorMessage tell why. See Errors.

Change a tag

MediaFile.WriteTags replaces all the tags of the file with the ones you give. To change one field, read the tags, change them, and write them back:

var read = MediaFile.ReadTags("song.mp3");
if (!read.IsSuccess)
    return;

var tags = read.Value;
tags.Title = "New Title";
tags.Year = 2026;

tags.Pictures.Clear();
tags.Pictures.Add(new MediaPicture
{
    PictureType = MediaPictureType.FrontCover,
    MimeType = "image/png",
    Description = "Album cover",
    Data = File.ReadAllBytes("cover.png"),
});

var writeResult = MediaFile.WriteTags("song.mp3", tags);
if (!writeResult.IsSuccess)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{writeResult.Error}: {writeResult.ErrorMessage}");
}

Writing a new MediaTagInfo instead would remove every field it does not set. See Writing tags.

Next steps

  • Reading tags: the fields, pictures, custom fields, streams and errors.
  • Writing tags: how writing replaces the tags, streams, removing tags and the write options.
  • Format support: which fields each format stores.