The audio/mpeg Media Type
Extracted elements (11)
MPEG audio was not designed as a file format but as a streaming transmission format, and therefore has no well-defined way of including metadata. Some products embed metadata using zero-amplitude frames, transmission-error disguises, or by wrapping MPEG data in WAV format.
The audio/MPS MIME subtype (MPA, RFC 1890) is also in use and refers to MPEG audio when segmented and sent as an RTP payload, as distinct from the audio/mpeg type defined here.
Audio/mpeg data MAY include MPEG frames generated without the optional cyclic redundancy checks (CRC) for improved audio quality, assuming lower layers handle transmission errors.
Executable content embedded in MPEG tagged data MUST NOT be executed if received, especially since content may be generated independently and contain executable material the sender is unaware of.
MPEG audio binary data must be encoded for non-binary transport; Base64 encoding is suitable for email use.
Tagged data containing executable content SHOULD never be sent in an MPEG stream, given that MPEG private-use tags could carry arbitrary material including executable content.
MPEG audio meta data is typically concatenated with the MPEG stream. ID3 appends a 128-byte block at the end; ID3v2 prepends a variable-size block at the start.
The audio/mpeg type defines an elementary byte stream containing MPEG frames per MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 standards, possibly interspersed with non-MPEG data. Non-MPEG data is data without MPEG synchronization or otherwise not decompressible without error.
Registers the MIME media type audio/mpeg for MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 audio layer streams (layers I, II, III). Intended usage is COMMON. File extensions are .mp1, .mp2, .mp3.
Audio/mpeg objects are not signed or encrypted internally; external security mechanisms must be employed to ensure content confidentiality.
MPEG is a tagged data format with private-use tags, so arbitrary material including executable content could be transferred in the MPEG stream. Such content must not be executed on receipt.