Windows Media Metadata Usage Guidelines

Article
03/19/2007

Jay Loomis

Microsoft Corporation

September 2004

Applies to:

Microsoft® Windows Media® 9 Series

Summary: Provides a consolidated reference for the use of Windows Media metadata attributes. These attributes contain descriptive data about digital media content. (53 printed pages)

Introduction
Metadata Support in Windows Media Technologies
Suggested Attributes by File Type
Attribute List
Attribute Descriptions
For More Information

Introduction

Metadata is a part of content creation that is often dealt with inconsistently by application developers, content creators and hardware manufacturers. However, rich metadata support has become an important part of the digital media experience. This document provides a consolidated reference for the Microsoft® Windows Media® metadata attributes and gives some guidance about their use. Applications and services that follow these guidelines help to provide consumers with a consistent Windows Media experience across a wide spectrum of devices and tools.

Windows Media 9 Series provides a foundation for consistent, extensible metadata support. In addition to a greatly increased list of defined attributes, Windows Media 9 Series supports attributes in multiple languages and multiple instances of some attributes.

It is up to device manufacturers, application developers and content creators to ensure that content and applications provide users with accurate, useful information about their Windows Media-based content.

This article covers the following topics:

Metadata Support in Windows Media Technologies

Describes and compares the metadata support provided by several Windows Media technologies.
Suggested Attributes by File Type

Lists the attributes that should be used based on the type of file. Each list is further divided into lists of those attributes that are vitally important, those that, while not compulsory, are widely useful, and those that should only be used as needed.
Attribute List

Lists all of the metadata attributes in the Windows Media namespace. Each attribute entry contains information about suggested usage.
For More Information

Provides references for further study.

Because the Windows Media 9 Series platform includes many ways to work with metadata, this article does not provide procedural information. For instructional information about managing attributes, refer to the documentation for the technology you are using.

Metadata Support in Windows Media Technologies

The Windows Media Format SDK and Windows Media Player SDK provide comprehensive support for metadata attributes. Other Windows Media technologies support metadata to a lesser degree. This section describes the metadata features of the various Windows Media technologies. For specific information about how to work with metadata, refer to the documentation of the individual technology.

Metadata in the Windows Media Format SDK

The Windows Media Format SDK provides the most comprehensive and flexible metadata support for ASF files. You can edit the metadata of a file while encoding or playing that file, or you can create an application that edits the metadata of an existing file without reading the content in the data section of the file.

Metadata in the Windows Media Player SDK

The Windows Media Player SDK supports most of the metadata attributes listed in this article. In addition, it provides access to Media Library, which has additional attributes. Media Library entries are created only for files that are used by Windows Media Player, so the Media Library attributes are not listed in this document. For more information about Media Library, see the Windows Media Player SDK documentation.

Metadata in the Windows Media Encoder SDK

You can use the Windows Media Encoder SDK to set metadata attributes in files you encode. However, only the five core attributes are supported explicitly. Any other attributes must be entered as user defined.

Metadata in Windows Media Player

Windows Media Player provides support for many metadata attributes. Many attributes can be accessed from the Media Library tag. Metadata displayed in this view is different for audio than it is for video. You can access the full list of attributes by right-clicking on one of the headings. This brings up a list of available attributes. By clicking on "More . . .", you open a dialog listing all of the available attributes for the type of media listed in the current view (audio or video). You can select which attributes to list by using the check boxes in this list. Other supported attributes can be accessed by using the Advanced Tag Editor dialog box. Custom attributes are not supported by Windows Media Player, except for "Custom 1" and "Custom 2".

Metadata in Windows Media Encoder

Windows Media Encoder provides support for the five core attributes as part of the session properties. You can add other attributes as custom values.

Metadata in Windows Movie Maker

When you create movies with Widows Movie Maker, you can assign values for the core attributes except for Copyright. You cannot add custom attributes to your movie.

Metadata in Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002

Files created by Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint® 2002 have values for Title, Author and Description. Any other metadata required must be added with another component or application.

Core Attributes

In several instances, explicit metadata support is limited to five core attributes:

Title

Author

Description

Copyright

Rating

Of these, Rating is problematic due to inconsistent use in existing files. Whenever possible, you should use WM/SharedUserRating instead.

Suggested Attributes by File Type

This section provides suggestions about which metadata attributes to use for different types of content. The applicability of these suggestions depends upon the intended use of your content. For content that is widely and publicly distributed, you should follow the suggestions closely. Files for custom use might have different metadata requirements entirely.

These suggestions should also be used when creating applications or hardware devices that play Windows Media files. Instead of including the attributes in a file, developers should provide access to them in the user interface of their application or device. This ensures metadata coverage consistent with Windows Media Player.

The following sections list the suggested attributes for the different file types:

Attributes for Music Files
Attributes for Video Files
Attributes for Custom File Types

Attributes for Music Files

This section lists the attributes commonly used for audio files containing music. It is recommended that you set attributes for files according to these lists to ensure that your files are fully compatible with a wide variety of playback applications. These commonly used attributes fall into three categories: primary, secondary and tertiary.

Primary attributes convey the most basic information about a file. If you are creating audio files for distribution, you should always use this set of attributes.

Secondary attributes contain common information that is important but not universal to all audio files. Use secondary attributes whenever the information they describe is available for your content.

Tertiary attributes are those that may be helpful but are not essential to describing the file. Use this set of attributes as needed.

The primary, secondary and tertiary attributes for music files are listed following.

Primary attributes for music

Author
Title
WM/AlbumArtist
WM/AlbumTitle
WM/ContentDistributor
WM/Genre
WM/MCDI (if available; otherwise use WM/WMCollectionID, WM/WMCollectionGroupID, or WM/WMContentID)
WM/MediaClassPrimaryID
WM/MediaClassSecondaryID
WM/Provider
WM/TrackNumber

Secondary attributes for music

Copyright
WM/Composer
WM/EncodingTime
WM/Language
WM/ParentalRating
WM/Producer
WM/ToolName
WM/ToolVersion
WM/WMCollectionGroupID
WM/WMCollectionID
WM/WMContentID
WM/Writer

Tertiary attributes for music

Description
WM/AuthorURL
WM/BeatsPerMinute
WM/Conductor
WM/ContentGroupDescription
WM/EncodedBy
WM/EncodingSettings
WM/InitialKey
WM/Lyrics
WM/Lyrics_Synchronised
WM/Mood
WM/PartOfSet
WM/Period
WM/Picture
WM/PromotionURL
WM/Publisher
WM/SubTitle
WM/UniqueFileIdentifier
WM/UserWebURL

Attributes for Video Files

This section lists the attributes commonly used for video files. It is recommended that you set attributes for files according to these lists to ensure that your files are fully compatible with a wide variety of playback applications. These commonly used attributes fall into three categories: primary, secondary and tertiary.

Primary attributes convey the most basic information about a file. If you are creating video files for distribution, you should always use this set of attributes.

Secondary attributes contain common information that is important but not universal to all video files. Use secondary attributes whenever the information they describe is available for your content.

Tertiary attributes are those that may be helpful but are not essential to describing the file. Use this set of attributes as needed.

The primary, secondary and tertiary attributes for video files are listed following.

Primary attributes for video

Author
Title
WM/ContentDistributor
WM/DVDID (if available; otherwise use WM/WMCollectionID, WM/WMCollectionGroupID, and WM/WMContentID)
WM/Genre
WM/MediaClassPrimaryID
WM/MediaClassSecondaryID
WM/Provider

Secondary attributes for video

Copyright
WM/Composer
WM/Director
WM/EncodingTime
WM/Language
WM/ParentalRating
WM/Producer
WM/ToolName
WM/ToolVersion
WM/WMCollectionGroupID
WM/WMCollectionID
WM/WMContentID
WM/Writer

Tertiary attributes for video

Description
WM/AuthorURL
WM/Conductor
WM/ContentGroupDescription
WM/EncodedBy
WM/EncodingSettings
WM/PartOfSet
WM/Picture
WM/PromotionURL
WM/Publisher
WM/SubTitle
WM/UniqueFileIdentifier
WM/UserWebURL

Attributes for Custom File Types

Most custom ASF files are created to be used with a specific player and have a defined set of attributes. When creating custom players, you should support a basic set of attributes so that other players can find some information about the content to display to the user, even if the content cannot be rendered.

The following attributes constitute the minimum set of attributes that should be supported for files of any type:

Title
Author
Description
Copyright

Attribute List

The following lists the content-descriptive metadata attributes that are contained in the Windows Media namespace. The remainder of this white paper provides information about when and how to use these attributes:

Author
Copyright
Description
Rating
Title
WM/AlbumArtist
WM/AlbumCoverURL
WM/AlbumTitle
WM/AudioFileURL
WM/AudioSourceURL
WM/AuthorURL
WM/BeatsPerMinute
WM/Category
WM/Composer
WM/Conductor
WM/ContentDistributor
WM/ContentGroupDescription
WM/Director
WM/DVDID
WM/EncodedBy
WM/EncodingSettings
WM/EncodingTime
WM/Genre
WM/GenreID
WM/InitialKey
WM/ISRC
WM/Language
WM/Lyrics
WM/Lyrics_Synchronised
WM/MCDI
WM/MediaClassPrimaryID
WM/MediaClassSecondaryID
WM/MediaCredits
WM/MediaIsDelay
WM/MediaIsFinale
WM/MediaIsLive
WM/MediaIsPremiere
WM/MediaIsRepeat
WM/MediaIsSAP
WM/MediaIsSubtitled
WM/MediaIsStereo
WM/MediaNetworkAffiliation
WM/MediaOriginalBroadcastDateTime
WM/MediaOriginalChannel
WM/MediaStationCallSign
WM/MediaStationName
WM/ModifiedBy
WM/Mood
WM/OriginalAlbumTitle
WM/OriginalArtist
WM/OriginalFilename
WM/OriginalLyricist
WM/OriginalReleaseTime
WM/OriginalReleaseYear
WM/ParentalRating
WM/ParentalRatingReason
WM/PartOfSet
WM/Period
WM/Picture
WM/Producer
WM/PromotionURL
WM/Provider
WM/ProviderCopyright
WM/ProviderRating
WM/ProviderStyle
WM/Publisher
WM/RadioStationName
WM/RadioStationOwner
WM/SharedUserRating
WM/SubTitle
WM/SubTitleDescription
WM/Text
WM/ToolName
WM/ToolVersion
WM/Track
WM/TrackNumber
WM/UniqueFileIdentifier
WM/UserWebURL
WM/WMCollectionGroupID
WM/WMCollectionID
WM/WMContentID
WM/Writer
WM/Year

Attribute Descriptions

The following sections provide descriptions of the individual metadata attributes.

Author

Author is a file-level attribute used to identify people associated with the content for which there is no other, more specific attribute. This attribute applies to all types of files.

In audio files, use Author to identify the band or group that performed the content. You can use multiple Author values to list individual artists. For example, use additional Author values for soloists in orchestral pieces.

In video files, use Author values to identify the actors or animators that created the content.

In other types of files, Author specifies an individual who contributed to creating the content.

This attribute is associated with the following constants and user interface names.

The following table summarizes the support for this attribute in Windows Media. Listed for each technology is an indicator of explicit support and, optionally, any constants, alternate names, or user interface labels associated with the attribute. In some technologies, attributes not explicitly supported can be included as custom attributes.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMAuthor
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	Actor; Artist
Windows Media Player	Yes	Actor; Artist
Windows Media Encoder	Yes
Windows Media Encoder SDK	Yes
Windows Media Movie Maker	Yes
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	Yes	Presenter

Back to Attribute List

Copyright

The Copyright attribute contains a copyright message for the content. This attribute applies to all types of content. The copyright message can be written in any style.

This attribute value could be: "2002 Contoso Music".

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMCopyright
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	Yes
Windows Media Encoder	Yes
Windows Media Encoder SDK	Yes
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

Description

The Description attribute contains a description of the content of the file. This attribute does not follow any particular format but should supply more specific information than the title. Description applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMDescription
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	Yes
Windows Media Encoder	Yes
Windows Media Encoder SDK	Yes
Windows Media Movie Maker	Yes
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	Yes

Back to Attribute List

Rating

The Rating attribute contains the rating of the content. This rating is a qualitative value and should not be confused with the WM/ParentalRating. The implementation of this attribute in existing content is inconsistent, so reading applications should not expect data in a specific format.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMRating
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	Yes
Windows Media Encoder	Yes
Windows Media Encoder SDK	Yes
Windows Media Movie Maker	Yes
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

Title

The Title attribute contains the title of the content in the file.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMTitle
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	Name
Windows Media Player	Yes
Windows Media Encoder	Yes
Windows Media Encoder SDK	Yes
Windows Media Movie Maker	Yes
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	Yes

Back to Attribute List

WM/AlbumArtist

The WM/AlbumArtist attribute contains the name of the primary artist featured on the album.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMAlbumArtist
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	AlbumArtist
Windows Media Player	Yes	Album Artist
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

For albums that combine tracks from various artists, such as tribute albums or collaborative albums, this attribute can be used to specify the primary artist featured on the album. Use this attribute instead of using an Author value of "various artists".

Back to Attribute List

WM/AlbumCoverURL

The WM/AlbumCoverURL attribute contains the address of a Web page that contains an image of the album cover and information about the album.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMAlbumCoverURL
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/AlbumTitle

The WM/AlbumTitle attribute contains the title of the album on which the content was released. This is the name of the album that contains the version of the content as encoded. If the content is a cover of earlier content or a re-release (like a track on a "greatest hits" album), you can use the WM/OriginalAlbumTitle attribute to specify the title of the album on which the content was originally released.

WM/AlbumTitle is usually only used for audio content, but might be used for video content that was released on a DVD or video tape that also contains other videos.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMAlbumTitle
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	Album
Windows Media Player	Yes	Album
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/AudioFileURL

The WM/AudioFileURL attribute contains the address of an official Web page that provides information about the audio content. For example, a song might have a link back to the album page on the artist's Web site.

WM/AudioFileURL only applies to audio content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMAudioFileURL
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	Yes	Official audio file information
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/AudioSourceURL

The WM/AudioSourceURL attribute contains the address of an official Web page of the source media. For example, a song from a soundtrack might have a link to the official page for the movie.

WM/AudioSourceURL only applies to audio content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMAudioSourceURL
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	Yes	Official audio source
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/AuthorURL

The WM/AuthorURL attribute contains the address of the author's Web site.

WM/AuthorURL applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMAuthorURL
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	Yes	Official artist Web site
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

The address specified by this attribute should correspond with the artist or author named in an Author attribute in the file.

Back to Attribute List

WM/BeatsPerMinute

The WM/BeatsPerMinute attribute contains the beats per minute of the content. This is a numeric value that applies only to music.

A typical value could be: "120".

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMBeatsPerMinute
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	Yes	Beats per minute
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/Category

The WM/Category attribute contains the category of the content. There are no specifications for categories. Player applications should encourage users to create their own categories to organize their content.

For audio content this attribute value could be: "Driving Music".

For video content this attribute value could be: "Home Videos".

WM/Category can be used for all content, but is most applicable to audio and video files.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMCategory
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	Yes	Music category description
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/Composer

The WM/Composer attribute contains the name of the music composer.

Although this attribute only applies to music, it may be specified for video content that has an original score, like a movie.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMComposer
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	Composer
Windows Media Player	Yes	Composer
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/Conductor

The WM/Conductor attribute contains the name of the conductor.

This attribute only applies to music, but it might be specified for a video file with an orchestral score.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMConductor
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	Conductor
Windows Media Player	Yes	Conductor
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/ContentDistributor

The WM/ContentDistributor attribute contains the name of the distributor of the file. The distributor is the company or individual from which a user obtains the file.

WM/ContentDistributor applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMContentDistributor
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	ContentDistributor
Windows Media Player	Yes	Content Provider
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/ContentGroupDescription

The WM/ContentGroupDescription attribute contains a description of the content group. Content groups are collections of media to which individual files may belong. For example, an audio file may be a song that is a track on one CD that is part of a boxed set. Similarly, a video clip may be part of a series.

WM/ContentGroupDescription can apply to any type of content, but is most often used for audio.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMContentGroupDescription
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	ContentGroupDescription
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/Director

The WM/Director attribute contains the name of the director.

WM/Director typically applies to video content, but might be appropriate for soundtracks or recordings of musical theater.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMDirector
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	Director
Windows Media Player	Yes	Director
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/DVDID

The WM/DVDID attribute contains the digital video disc identifier (DVDID).

WM/DVDID only applies to content recorded from a DVD.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMDVDID
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	DVDID
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/EncodedBy

The WM/EncodedBy attribute contains the name of the person or group that encoded the content.

WM/EncodedBy applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMEncodedBy
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/EncodingSettings

The WM/EncodingSettings attribute contains the settings that were used to encode the content.

There is no standard format for indicating encoding settings. However, it is preferable to describe the encoding settings in English rather than including a binary dump of the settings.

WM/EncodingSettings applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMEncodingSettings
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/EncodingTime

The WM/EncodingTime attribute contains a time stamp of the time at which the content was encoded.

This attribute uses a FILETIME value, which is a 64-bit value representing the number of 100-nanosecond time units elapsed since January 1, 1601. For more information about FILETIME, see the Windows System Information section of the Platform SDK.

WM/EncodingTime applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMEncodingTime
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	CreationDate
Windows Media Player	Yes	Creation Date
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/Genre

The WM/Genre attribute contains the genre of the content.

The value of WM/Genre is a string containing the genre name. There are no defined genre values, but you can use one of the values from Windows Media Player. These values are listed at the end of this topic. You can also use your own values.

For audio content this attribute value could be: "Rock".

For video content this attribute value could be: "Drama".

WM/Genre applies to both audio and video content, but is only supported by predefined values for audio in Windows Media Player.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMGenre
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	Genre
Windows Media Player	Yes	Genre
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

This is the preferred attribute for specifying the genre of content.

When written to an MP3 file, this attribute is converted to a TCON ID3 tag. This involves changing the tag so that it is formatted in the manner described for WM/GenreID.

The following genre values are provided in the Advanced Tag Editor of Windows Media Player:

A capella
Acid
Acid Jazz
Acid Punk
Acoustic
Alternative
AlternRock
Ambient
Avantgarde
Ballad
Bass
Bebop
Big Band
Bluegrass
Blues
Booty Bass
Cabaret
Celtic
Chamber Music
Chanson
Chorus
Christian Rap
Classic Rock
Classical
Club
Comedy
Country
Cult
Dance
Dance Hall
Darkwave
Death Metal
Disco
Dream
Drum Solo
Duet
Easy Listening
Electronic
Ethnic
Eurodance
Euro-House
Euro-Techno
Fast Fusion
Folk
Folklore
Folk-Rock
Funk
Fusion
Game
Gangsta
Gospel
Gothic
Gothic Rock
Grunge
Hard Rock
Hip-Hop
House
Humor
Industrial
Instrumental
Instrumental Pop
Instrumental Rock
Jazz
Jazz+Funk
Jungle
Latin
Lo-Fi
Meditative
Metal
Musical
National Folk
Native American
New Age
New Wave
Noise
Oldies
Opera
Other
Polka
Pop
Pop/Funk
Pop-Folk
Porn Groove
Power Ballad
Pranks
Primus
Progressive Rock
Punk
Punk Rock
R&B
Rap
Rave
Reggae
Retro
Revival
Rhythmic Soul
Rock
Rock & Roll
Samba
Satire
Showtunes
Ska
Slow Jam
Slow Rock
Sonata
Soul
Sound Clip
Soundtrack
Southern Rock
Symphony
Tango
Techno
Techno-Industrial
Top 40
Trailer
Trance
Tribal
Trip-Hop
Unknown
Vocal

Back to Attribute List

WM/GenreID

The WM/GenreID attribute contains a genre identifier that is compliant with the contents of the TCON tag in ID3v2. This should contain the genre ID in parentheses, optionally followed by a descriptive label that further refines the genre. For more information, refer to the ID3v2 specification.

For audio content this attribute value could be: "(4) Eurodisco".

WM/GenreID only applies to audio content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMGenreID
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

The preferred attribute for specifying a genre is WM/Genre. Use it in preference to this attribute.

Back to Attribute List

WM/InitialKey

The WM/InitialKey attribute contains the initial key of the music in the file.

This attribute value could be: "A sharp (minor)".

WM/InitialKey only applies to audio content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMInitialKey
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	InitialKey
Windows Media Player	Yes	Key
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/ISRC

The WM/ISRC attribute contains the International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) for the content. The ISRC is used in the recording industry to identify a recording. It is independent of the MCDI (WM/MCDI), which identifies a CD by its table of contents.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMISRC
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/Language

The WM/Language attribute contains a language string specifying the language of the content. This is a stream-specific attribute and should not be set at the file level. The language of a stream is typically added when multiple, mutually exclusive versions of the stream, each in a different language, exist in the file. The language string used should be compliant with RFC 1766.

This attribute value could be: "en-us".

WM/Language applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMLanguage
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	Language
Windows Media Player	Yes	Language
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/Lyrics

The WM/Lyrics attribute contains the lyrics as a simple string.

WM/Lyrics only applies to audio content. However, video files that contain audio can use this attribute.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMLyrics
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	Lyrics
Windows Media Player	Yes	Lyrics tab in Advanced Tag Editor
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

For structured storage of lyrics, use the WM/Lyrics_Synchronised attribute.

Back to Attribute List

WM/Lyrics_Synchronised

The WM/Lyrics_Synchronised attribute contains lyrics that are synchronized to times in the file. This value is a structured set of smaller values. For more information about how to use synchronized lyrics, see the documentation for the technology you are using.

WM/Lyrics_Synchronised only applies to audio content. However, video files that contain audio can use this attribute.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMLyrics_Synchronised
Windows Media Player SDK
Windows Media Player	Yes	Synchronized Lyrics
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/MCDI

The WM/MCDI attribute contains the music CD identifier (MCDI). This is a binary dump of the table of contents from the CD that is used to uniquely identify the CD.

WM/MCDI only applies to audio that came from a CD.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMMCDI
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	TOC
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

This attribute is compatible with the ID3 frame, MCDI. The ID3 specification for the MCDI frame requires that only one such frame exist per file and that a valid TRCK frame exist. Unlike the MCDI ID3 frame, the size of WM/MCDI is not limited to 804 bytes.

Back to Attribute List

WM/MediaClassPrimaryID

The WM/MediaClassPrimaryID attribute contains the globally unique identifier (GUID) of the primary media class. You should use primary and secondary media classes to provide a general classification of your content. Reader applications can use this information to determine how to handle the content. This is particularly important for readers that are designed to handle only a specific type of content (like an audio book reader). When you specify a primary class identifier, you should also set a secondary class identifier (WM/MediaClassSecondaryID) to clarify the type of media within its broad primary class.

WM/MediaClassPrimaryID applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMMediaClassPrimaryID
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

This attribute should be set to one of the GUID values in the following table. The names listed are not defined as constants in any of the Windows Media SDKs, but are suggested names if you create your own constants.

Primary class name	Primary class GUID	Description
MUSIC	D1607DBC-E323-4BE2-86A1-48A42A28441E	Use for music files. Do not use for audio that is not music.
VIDEO	DB9830BD-3AB3-4FAB-8A37-1A995F7FF74B	Use for video files.
AUDIO	01CD0F29-DA4E-4157-897B-6275D50C4F11	Use for audio files that are not music.
OTHER	FCF24A76-9A57-4036-990D-E35DD8B244E1	Use for files that are neither audio nor video.

The following media class identifiers are used internally by Windows Media Player and may be used instead of the standard class identifiers.

Primary class name	Primary class GUID	Description
PLAYLIST	1F4F1464-C965-4CF5-95CB-A1337A2AC9F8	May be used for playlist content.
RADIO	1969ADFD-F555-4B72-BEF6-AF60CE0430FF	May be used for radio content.

Back to Attribute List

WM/MediaClassSecondaryID

The WM/MediaClassSecondaryID attribute contains the globally unique identifier (GUID) of the secondary media class. You should use primary and secondary media classes to provide a general classification of your content. Reader applications can use this information to determine how to handle the content. This is particularly important for readers that are designed to handle only a specific type of content (like an audio book reader).

When specifying a secondary class identifier, the file should also contain a primary class identifier attribute (WM/MediaClassPrimaryID).

WM/MediaClassSecondaryID applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMMediaClassSecondaryID
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

This attribute should be set to one of the GUID values in the following table.

Secondary class name	Secondary class GUID	Description
AUDIO_AUDIO_BOOK	E0236BEB-C281-4EDE-A36D-7AF76A3D45B5	Use for audio book files.
AUDIO_SPOKEN_WORD	3A172A13-2BD9-4831-835B-114F6A95943F	Use for audio files that contain speech, but are not audio books. For example, stand-up comedy routines.
AUDIO_MEDIA_NEWS	6677DB9B-E5A0-4063-A1AD-ACEB52840CF1	Use for audio files related to news.
AUDIO_MEDIA_TALKSHOW	1B824A67-3F80-4E3E-9CDE-F7361B0F5F1B	Use for audio files with talk show content.
VIDEO_MEDIA_NEWS	1FE2E091-4E1E-40CE-B22D-348C732E0B10	Use for video files related to news.
VIDEO_MEDIA_SHOW	D6DE1D88-C77C-4593-BFBC-9C61E8C373E3	Use for video files containing Web-based shows, short films, movie trailers, and so on. This is the general identifier for video entertainment that does not fit into another category.
AUDIO_GAME_SOUNDS	00033368-5009-4AC3-A820-5D2D09A4E7C1	Use for audio files containing sound clips from games.
MUSIC_GAME_SOUND_TRACK	F24FF731-96FC-4D0F-A2F5-5A3483682B1A	Use for audio files containing complete songs from game sound tracks. If only part of a song is encoded in the file, use the identifier for game sound clips instead.
VIDEO_MUSIC_VIDEO	E3E689E2-BA8C-4330-96DF-A0EEEFFA6876	Use for video files containing music videos.
VIDEO_HOME_VIDEO	B76628F4-300D-443D-9CB5-01C285109DAF	Use for video files containing general home video.
VIDEO_MOVIE	A9B87FC9-BD47-4BF0-AC4F-655B89F7D868	Use for video files containing feature films.
VIDEO_TV_SHOW	BA7F258A-62F7-47A9-B21F-4651C42A000E	Use for video files containing television shows. For Web-based shows, use VIDEO_MEDIA_SHOW.
VIDEO_CORPORATE_VIDEO	44051B5B-B103-4B5C-92AB-93060A9463F0	Use for video files containing corporate video. For example, recorded meetings or training videos.
VIDEO_HOME_PHOTOVIDEO	0B710218-8C0C-475E-AF73-4C41C0C8F8CE	Use for video files containing home video made from photographs. This class applies specifically to content created by using the Windows Media Video Image codec.

The following media class identifiers are used internally by Windows Media Player.

Secondary class name	Secondary class GUID	Description
PLAYLIST_STATIC	D0E20D5C-CAD6-4F66-9FA1-6018830F1DCC	Used for static playlists.
PLAYLIST_SMART	EB0BAFB6-3C4F-4C31-AA39-95C7B8D7831D	Used for smart playlists, which are created by Windows Media Player based on other content metadata.
RADIO_FAVORITE	3C113A69-83D0-4E42-8DA2-88FA0C0F1C8F	Used for the radio stations listed in the My Favorites radio list in Windows Media Player.
RADIO_RECOMMENDED	99875E99-4A5B-41B7-A82B-775380CAB690	Used for the radio stations listed in the Featured Stations radio list in Windows Media Player.
RADIO_RECENTLY_PLAYED	264436C7-4CEA-4A87-A09A-6C117229DA5C	Used for the radio stations listed in the Recently Played radio list in Windows Media Player.

Back to Attribute List

WM/MediaCredits

The WM/MediaCredits attribute contains the credits for broadcast media.

WM/MediaCredits applies to broadcast video and audio.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMMediaCredits
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/MediaIsDelay

The WM/MediaIsDelay attribute contains a Boolean value that indicates whether the content was broadcast as a tape delay.

WM/MediaIsDelay applies to broadcast television content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMMediaIsDelay
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/MediaIsFinale

The WM/MediaIsFinale attribute contains a Boolean value that indicates whether the content is the final episode of a broadcast program.

WM/MediaIsFinale applies to broadcast television content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMMediaIsFinale
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/MediaIsLive

The WM/MediaIsLive attribute contains a Boolean value that indicates whether the content is a live broadcast.

WM/MediaIsLive applies to broadcast video and audio.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMMediaIsLive
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/MediaIsPremiere

The WM/MediaIsPremiere attribute contains a Boolean value that indicates whether the content is the premiere episode of a television program.

WM/MediaIsPremiere applies to broadcast television content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMMediaIsPremiere
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/MediaIsRepeat

The WM/MediaIsRepeat attribute contains a Boolean value that indicates whether the content is a repeat of a broadcast.

WM/MediaIsRepeat applies to broadcast television content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMMediaIsRepeat
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/MediaIsSAP

The WM/MediaIsSAP attribute contains a Boolean value that indicates whether the content includes a second audio program (SAP).

WM/MediaIsSAP applies to video. Television content often includes SAP with dialog in an additional language.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMMediaIsSAP
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/MediaIsSubtitled

The WM/MediaIsSubtitled attribute contains a Boolean value that indicates whether the content includes subtitles.

WM/MediaIsSubtitled applies to video content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMMediaIsSubtitled
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/MediaIsStereo

The WM/MediaIsStereo attribute contains a Boolean value that indicates whether the content is in stereo.

WM/MediaIsStereo can be used for any type of content. It is particularly appropriate for television content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMMediaIsStereo
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/MediaNetworkAffiliation

The WM/MediaNetworkAffiliation attribute contains the media network affiliation of the station that produced the content.

WM/MediaNetworkAffiliation applies to broadcast video and audio. It is most commonly used for television content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMMediaNetworkAffiliation
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/MediaOriginalBroadcastDateTime

The WM/MediaOriginalBroadcastDateTime attribute contains the date and time at which the content was originally broadcast.

WM/MediaOriginalBroadcastDateTime applies to broadcast video and audio.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMMediaOriginalBroadcastDateTime
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/MediaOriginalChannel

The WM/MediaOriginalChannel attribute contains the channel number of the station that produced the content.

WM/MediaOriginalChannel applies to broadcast video and audio.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMMediaOriginalChannel
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/MediaStationCallSign

The WM/MediaStationCallSign attribute contains the call letters of the station that produced the content.

WM/MediaStationCallSign applies to broadcast video and audio.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMMediaStationCallSign
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/MediaStationName

The WM/MediaStationName attribute contains the name of the station that broadcast the content.

WM/MediaStationName applies to broadcast video and audio.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMMediaStationName
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/ModifiedBy

The WM/ModifiedBy attribute contains the name of a person or group that modified the file.

WM/ModifiedBy applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMModifiedBy
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/Mood

The WM/Mood attribute contains a category name describing the mood of the content.

The value of WM/Mood is a string containing the mood name. There are no defined genre values, but you can use one of the values from Windows Media Player. These values are listed at the end of this topic. You can also use your own values.

WM/Mood applies to both audio and video content, but is only supported by predefined values for audio in Windows Media Player.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMMood
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	Mood
Windows Media Player	Yes	Mood
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

The following mood values are provided in the Advanced Tag Editor of Windows Media Player:

Angry
Groovy
Happy
Party
Quirky
Rockin
Sad
Soothing
Spooky
Sunday Brunch
Trippy
Work

Back to Attribute List

WM/OriginalAlbumTitle

The WM/OriginalAlbumTitle attribute contains the name of the album on which the song first appeared. This attribute is often used for remakes of songs or for compilations (like "greatest hits" albums).

WM/OriginalAlbumTitle only applies to audio.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMOriginalAlbumTitle
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	Original album
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/OriginalArtist

The WM/OriginalArtist attribute contains the name of the artist who originally produced the content. This attribute is used for remakes of songs.

WM/OriginalArtist only applies to audio.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMOriginalArtist
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	Yes	Original artist
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/OriginalFilename

The WM/OriginalFilename attribute contains the name of the file from which the content was made.

WM/OriginalFilename applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMOriginalFilename
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/OriginalLyricist

The WM/OriginalLyricist attribute contains the name of the person who wrote the original lyrics. This attribute is used for remakes of songs.

WM/OriginalLyricist only applies to audio.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMOriginalLyricist
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	Yes	Original lyricist
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/OriginalReleaseTime

The WM/OriginalReleaseTime attribute contains the date on which the content was originally released.

WM/OriginalReleaseTime can be used for any type of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMOriginalReleaseTime
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/OriginalReleaseYear

The WM/OriginalReleaseYear attribute contains the year during which the content was first released.

This attribute value could be: "2003".

WM/OriginalReleaseYear typically applies to audio content, but you can use it for video compilations or remakes as well.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMOriginalReleaseYear
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/ParentalRating

The WM/ParentalRating attribute contains the parental rating of the content.

For audio content this attribute value could be: "Explicit Lyrics".

For video content this attribute value could be: "PG-13".

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMParentalRating
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	MPAARating
Windows Media Player	Yes	Parental Rating
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/ParentalRatingReason

The WM/ParentalRatingReason attribute contains the reason for the assigned parental rating (WM/ParentalRating).

WM/ParentalRatingReason can be used for any type of content. It is particularly appropriate for movies, which may have defined reasons for parental rating from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMParentalRatingReason
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/PartOfSet

The WM/PartOfSet attribute lists the part number and total number of parts of the set to which the file belongs.

This attribute value could be: "2/3".

WM/PartOfSet applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMPartOfSet
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/Period

The WM/Period attribute contains the time period of the content.

This attribute value could be: "Baroque".

WM/Period only applies to audio.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMPeriod
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	Period
Windows Media Player	Yes	Period
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/Picture

The WM/Picture attribute contains a picture related to the content. This value is a structured set of smaller values. For more information about how to use synchronized lyrics, see the documentation for the Windows Media Format SDK, Windows Media Player SDK, or Windows Media Player.

WM/Picture applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMPicture
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	Yes	Pictures tab in Advanced Tag Editor
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

This attribute is compatible with the ID3 frame, APIC. The ID3 specification for the APIC frame stipulates that, while there may be any number of APIC frames associated with a file, only one may be of type 1 and only one may be of type 2. The specification also states that the description of the picture can be no longer than 64 characters, but can be empty.

Back to Attribute List

WM/Producer

The WM/Producer attribute contains the name of the producer of the content.

WM/Producer applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMProducer
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	ProducedBy
Windows Media Player	Yes	Producer
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/PromotionURL

The WM/PromotionURL attribute contains the address of a Web site offering a promotion related to the content.

WM/PromotionURL applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMPromotionURL
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/Provider

The WM/Provider attribute contains the name of the metadata content provider. Metadata is often obtained through a service.

This attribute value could be: "AMG".

WM/Provider applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMProvider
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	MetadataSource
Windows Media Player	Yes	Data Provider
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/ProviderCopyright

The WM/ProviderCopyright attribute contains the copyright statement of the metadata content provider.

WM/ProviderCopyright applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMProviderCopyright
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/ProviderRating

The WM/ProviderRating attribute contains the rating of the file as assigned by the metadata content provider.

WM/ProviderRating applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMProviderRating
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	Yes	Provider Rating
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/ProviderStyle

The WM/ProviderStyle attribute contains the style of the file as assigned by the metadata content provider.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMProviderStyle
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	Style
Windows Media Player	Yes	Style
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

This attribute is essentially a second genre designation. Because different classifiers have different notions of the genres associated with content, the provider style may be different than the genre assigned by the content creator. For information about the two other genre-related attributes, see WM/Genre and WM/GenreID.

Back to Attribute List

WM/Publisher

The WM/Publisher attribute contains the name of the company that published the content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMPublisher
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	Label; Studio; ReleasedBy
Windows Media Player	Yes	Label; Studio
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/RadioStationName

The WM/RadioStationName attribute contains the name of the radio station associated with the content.

WM/RadioStationName only applies to audio.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMRadioStationName
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/RadioStationOwner

The WM/RadioStationOwner attribute contains the name of the owner of the radio station associated with the content.

WM/RadioStationOwner only applies to audio.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMRadioStationOwner
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/SharedUserRating

The WM/SharedUserRating attribute contains the user rating of the content. This is the preferred attribute to use for qualitative rating.

WM/SharedUserRating applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMSharedUserRating
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	UserRating
Windows Media Player	Yes
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

The data for WM/SharedUserRating is a numeric value ranging from 0 to 99. The rating number can be converted to a five-star scale as shown in the following table.

Numeric rating	Star rating
0	Not rated
1 to 24	One star
25 to 49	Two stars
50 to 74	Three stars
75 to 98	Four stars
99	Five stars

Back to Attribute List

WM/SubTitle

The WM/SubTitle attribute contains the subtitle of the content.

WM/SubTitle applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMSubTitle
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	SubTitle; Episode
Windows Media Player	Yes	Subtitle
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/SubTitleDescription

The WM/SubTitleDescription attribute contains a description that corresponds to the subtitle (WM/SubTitle) of the content.

WM/SubTitleDescription applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMSubTitleDescription
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/Text

The WM/Text attribute contains arbitrary user text. This value is a structured set of smaller values. For more information about how to include user text, see the documentation for the Windows Media Format SDK or Windows Media Player SDK.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMText
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	Yes	Comments tab in Advanced Tag Editor
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/ToolName

The WM/ToolName attribute contains the name of the application used to create the file. You can also specify the version of the application using WM/ToolVersion.

WM/ToolName applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMToolName
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/ToolVersion

The WM/ToolVersion attribute contains the version number of the application that was used to create the file. If you use this attribute, you should also include the name of the application using WM/ToolName.

WM/ToolVersion applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMToolVersion
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/Track

The WM/Track attribute contains the track number of the content. This attribute is zero-based and is supported for backward compatibility. New content should use the WM/TrackNumber attribute instead.

WM/Track applies to audio.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMTrack
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/TrackNumber

The WM/TrackNumber attribute contains the track number of the content. This attribute is 1-based.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMTrackNumber
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	OriginalIndex; OriginalIndexLeft
Windows Media Player	Yes	Track number
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/UniqueFileIdentifier

The WM/UniqueFileIdentifier attribute contains a unique file identifier for the content.

WM/UniqueFileIdentifier applies to all types of files.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMUniqueFileIdentifier
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	UniqueFileIdentifier
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

The unique file identifier is a generic string that can be used by applications and services to uniquely identify the file. The string contains semicolon-delimited arbitrary values. You should never clear this attribute. You can append values and remove your own values, but all others should be left unaltered.

Back to Attribute List

WM/UserWebURL

The WM/UserWebURL attribute contains the address of a Web site and a description of the site. The Web site in this attribute can be any site that you want to associate with the file.

This value is a structured set of smaller values. For more information about using this attribute, see the documentation for the Windows Media Format SDK or Windows Media Player.

WM/UserWebURL applies to all types of files.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMUserWebURL
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	Yes	Other Web sites
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/WMCollectionGroupID

The WM/WMCollectionGroupID attribute contains a GUID identifying the group containing the collection to which the content belongs.

WM/WMCollectionGroupID applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMWMCollectionGroupID
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Content is identified by Windows Media technologies by using three values: WM/WMCollectionGroupID, WM/WMCollectionID and WM/WMContentID. These values identify the content, the collection to which it belongs, and the group to which the collection belongs. All three of these values are populated by Windows Media Player when metadata for the content is retrieved. You can have your application record these values and use them to identify content, but you should not change them if they are present.

Back to Attribute List

WM/WMCollectionID

The WM/WMCollectionID attribute contains a GUID identifying the collection to which the content belongs.

WM/WMCollectionID applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMWMCollectionID
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/WMContentID

The WM/WMContentID attribute contains a GUID identifying the content.

WM/WMContentID applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMWMContentID
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	No
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/Writer

The WM/Writer attribute contains the name of the writer who wrote the words of the content.

WM/Writer applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMWriter
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes	Writer
Windows Media Player	Yes	Lyricist; Writer
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

WM/Year

The WM/Year attribute contains the year the content was published.

This attribute value could be: "2003".

WM/Year applies to all types of content.

Technology	Explicitly supported	Constant or user interface name
Windows Media Format SDK	Yes	g_wszWMYear
Windows Media Player SDK	Yes
Windows Media Player	Yes	Release Date
Windows Media Encoder	No
Windows Media Encoder SDK	No
Windows Media Movie Maker	No
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	No

Back to Attribute List

For More Information

The following resources contain additional information about working with Windows Media files.

Also of interest is the ID3 Web site. ID3 is the standard metadata system used with MP3 files and is the basis of many of the Windows Media attributes.

Share via

Windows Media Metadata Usage Guidelines

Contents

Introduction

Metadata Support in Windows Media Technologies

Metadata in the Windows Media Format SDK

Metadata in the Windows Media Player SDK

Metadata in the Windows Media Encoder SDK

Metadata in Windows Media Player

Metadata in Windows Media Encoder

Metadata in Windows Movie Maker

Metadata in Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002

Core Attributes

Suggested Attributes by File Type

Attributes for Music Files

Attributes for Video Files

Attributes for Custom File Types

Attribute List

Attribute Descriptions

Author

Copyright

Description

Rating

Title

WM/AlbumArtist

WM/AlbumCoverURL

WM/AlbumTitle

WM/AudioFileURL

WM/AudioSourceURL

WM/AuthorURL

WM/BeatsPerMinute

WM/Category

WM/Composer

WM/Conductor

WM/ContentDistributor

WM/ContentGroupDescription

WM/Director

WM/DVDID

WM/EncodedBy

WM/EncodingSettings

WM/EncodingTime

WM/Genre

WM/GenreID

WM/InitialKey

WM/ISRC

WM/Language

WM/Lyrics

WM/Lyrics_Synchronised

WM/MCDI

WM/MediaClassPrimaryID

WM/MediaClassSecondaryID

WM/MediaCredits

WM/MediaIsDelay

WM/MediaIsFinale

WM/MediaIsLive

WM/MediaIsPremiere

WM/MediaIsRepeat

WM/MediaIsSAP

WM/MediaIsSubtitled

WM/MediaIsStereo

WM/MediaNetworkAffiliation

WM/MediaOriginalBroadcastDateTime

WM/MediaOriginalChannel

WM/MediaStationCallSign

WM/MediaStationName

WM/ModifiedBy

WM/Mood

WM/OriginalAlbumTitle

WM/OriginalArtist

WM/OriginalFilename

WM/OriginalLyricist

WM/OriginalReleaseTime

WM/OriginalReleaseYear

WM/ParentalRating

WM/ParentalRatingReason

WM/PartOfSet

WM/Period

WM/Picture

WM/Producer

WM/PromotionURL