Personally I have two questions here. 1) What exactly is a m3u playlist file?; 2) How do you create an m3u playlist file?

I downloaded an album from Alicia Keys and it contained a m3u file. I was wondering in relation to the first question, can m3u files be played in any media player. My Windows Media Player can certainly play these files, and thou Windows Media Player creates playlists itself, I noticed that the files created are Windows Media Playlist Files and not m3u. Now if m3u files can be played in any media player then I would be happy to create these files myself. I also am not sure if Windows Media Playlist Files can be played by any other media player.

Now I found that you can create m3u playlist files with notepad by typing in the required information and saving it with a .m3u at the end. This is the same case with Cue Sheet files required for .bin files and if so .img files. But anyways I would like to know the LAYOUT for m3u files in notepad.

Well I hope anyone can help. Cyas .

You can use this software to create them, very quick and easy to use:

http://www.oddgravity.de/

Hey Chriso, Thx for that. Thou personally I don't like installing software from the internet unless the software is really well known and has gained such good responses. That's why I asked about notepad. Also for people who don't know Winamp does create m3u playlists for you but I don't want Winamp in my computer. So yea.

You could create them using notepad but that could take ages.

Windows Media Player WILL create m3u playlists for you. Im curius as why you wouldn't want Winamp on your rig tho?

You can create m3u playlists with Foobar. This is a well known Audio player. Though it doesn't have a fancy interface, it has a better quality than any other player, it also supports gapless playback, and plays practically any format.

M3U files are basically a list of filenames/filepaths.

What you could do is make a new text document containing the names of the songs [including extension] and save as an M3U and it'll be done. The problem with using some audio players to do it is that it saves the PATH and when you move the folder everything screws up [e.g. Winamp].

That one I recommended is very good, and can either create absolute (with the full file path) or relative (like in the same folder, so they can be moved around to a different device/folder). Lots of features for a free program. Also, I would personally recommend Winamp as it has a lot to offer (probably not as much as Foobar) as a music player.

I use a script sometimes. Sometimes I just use foobar. I don't make M3U's all that often anymore because I don't use them. Anyway, here is the script I use:

Copy&paste it into Notepad and save as a DOS batch file (e.g. MakeM3U.bat)

I just drop it into the folder of MP3's I want to list and run it. Then I'd open the .M3U file in Notepad if I want to change the order of the songs.