XML Shareable Playlist Format
 |
| Filename extension |
.xspf |
|---|---|
| Internet media type |
application/xspf+xml |
| Developed by | Xiph.Org Foundation |
| Type of format | Playlist |
| Extended from | XML |
XML Shareable Playlist Format (XSPF), pronounced spiff,[1] is an XML-based playlist format for digital media, sponsored by the Xiph.Org Foundation.
XSPF is a data format for sharing the kind of playlist that can be played on a personal computer or portable device. In the same way that any user on any computer can open any web page, XSPF is intended to provide portability for playlists.
Content resolution
Traditionally playlists have been composed of file paths that pointed to individual titles. This allowed a playlist to be played locally on one machine or shared if the listed file paths were URLs accessible to more than one machine (e.g., on the web). XSPF's meta-data rich open format has permitted a new kind of playlist sharing called content resolution.
A simple form of content resolution is the localisation of a playlist based on metadata. A content resolver[clarification needed] will open XSPF playlists and search a catalog[which?] for every title with <creator>, <album> and <title> tags, then localise the playlist to reference the available matching tracks. A catalog may reference a collection of media files on a local disk, a music subscription service like Yahoo! Music Unlimited, or some other searchable archive. The end result is shareable playlists that are not tied to a specific collection or service.
Example of an XSPF 1.0 playlist
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<playlist version="1" xmlns="http://xspf.org/ns/0/">
<trackList>
<track>
<title>Internal Example</title>
<location>file:///C:/music/foo.mp3</location>
</track>
<track>
<title>Linux también existe</title>
<location>file:///mp3s/canción_1.mp3</location>
</track>
<track>
<title>External Example</title>
<location>http://www.example.com/music/bar.ogg</location>
</track>
</trackList>
</playlist>
History
XSPF was created by an ad-hoc working group which kicked off in February 2004, achieved rough consensus on version 0 in April 2004, worked on implementations and fine tuning throughout summer and fall 2004, and declared the tuned version to be version 1 in January 2005.
XSPF is not a recommendation of any standards body besides Xiph.Org Foundation.
Features
- A playlist format like M3U or ASX
- MIME content-type of application/xspf+xml
- Patent-free (no patents by the primary authors)
- Specification under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 license
- XML, like Atom
- Unicode support
- Cross-platform support
Software
- Amarok
- Audacious
- Banshee
- VLC media player (stand-alone player, available on every major platform)
- XMMS2 has a plugin to parse XSPF
- Neutron Music Player
References
- ^ "XSPF: XML Shareable Playlist Format: Quick Start". Retrieved 2009-04-23.
