[FFmpeg-user] ffmpeg ignores MP3 comment tag when transcodiing
Ulf Zibis
Ulf.Zibis at CoSoCo.de
Mon Jun 30 02:45:14 EEST 2025
Hi,
when i use the lame encoder directly, the comment tag of a mp3 file is conserved:
$ lame -V1 in.mp3 out.mp3
LAME 3.100 64bits (http://lame.sf.net)
Using polyphase lowpass filter, transition band: 19383 Hz - 19916 Hz
Encoding in.mp3 to out.mp3
Encoding as 44.1 kHz j-stereo MPEG-1 Layer III VBR(q=1)
Frame | CPU time/estim | REAL time/estim | play/CPU | ETA
10104/10104 (100%)| 0:04/ 0:04| 0:04/ 0:04| 54.411x| 0:00
32 [ 29] *
40 [ 0]
48 [ 0]
56 [ 0]
64 [ 0]
80 [ 0]
96 [ 0]
112 [ 2] %
128 [ 0]
160 [ 0]
192 [ 2473] %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%*
224 [ 5892] %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
256 [ 1506] %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%*
320 [ 202] %%%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
kbps LR MS % long switch short %
222.3 98.3 1.7 95.7 2.3 2.0
Writing LAME Tag...done
ReplayGain: +2.1dB
$ mediainfo out.mp3
General
Complete name : out.mp3
Format : MPEG Audio
File size : 7.04 MiB
Duration : 4 min 23 s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 222 kb/s
Album : A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
Album/Performer : Pink Floyd
Track name : Signs Of Life
Track name/Position : 01
Performer : Pink Floyd
Genre : Rock
Recorded date : 1987
Writing library : LAME3.100
Cover : Yes
Cover type : Cover (front)
Cover MIME : image/jpeg
Comment : Columbia Records 2005 Remastered Edition.
Audio
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Format settings : Joint stereo
Duration : 4 min 23 s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 222 kb/s
Minimum bit rate : 32.0 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 kHz
Frame rate : 38.281 FPS (1152 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 6.99 MiB (99%)
Writing library : LAME3.100
Encoding settings : -m j -V 1 -q 0 -lowpass 19.5 --vbr-new -b 32
Image
Format : JPEG
Width : 500 pixels
Height : 500 pixels
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 51.9 KiB (1%)
Using ffmpeg, the comment tag is lost:
$ ffmpeg -i in.mp3 -q 1 -c:v copy out.mp3
ffmpeg version 6.1.1-3ubuntu5 Copyright (c) 2000-2023 the FFmpeg developers
built with gcc 13 (Ubuntu 13.2.0-23ubuntu3)
configuration: --prefix=/usr --extra-version=3ubuntu5 --toolchain=hardened --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --incdir=/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu --arch=amd64 --enable-gpl --disable-stripping --disable-omx --enable-gnutls --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcaca --enable-libcdio --enable-libcodec2 --enable-libdav1d --enable-libflite --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libglslang --enable-libgme --enable-libgsm --enable-libharfbuzz --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libmysofa --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopus --enable-librubberband --enable-libshine --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzimg --enable-openal --enable-opencl --enable-opengl --disable-sndio --enable-libvpl --disable-libmfx --enable-libdc1394
--enable-libdrm --enable-libiec61883 --enable-chromaprint --enable-frei0r --enable-ladspa --enable-libbluray --enable-libjack --enable-libpulse --enable-librabbitmq --enable-librist --enable-libsrt --enable-libssh --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libx264 --enable-libzmq --enable-libzvbi --enable-lv2 --enable-sdl2 --enable-libplacebo --enable-librav1e --enable-pocketsphinx --enable-librsvg --enable-libjxl --enable-shared
libavutil 58. 29.100 / 58. 29.100
libavcodec 60. 31.102 / 60. 31.102
libavformat 60. 16.100 / 60. 16.100
libavdevice 60. 3.100 / 60. 3.100
libavfilter 9. 12.100 / 9. 12.100
libswscale 7. 5.100 / 7. 5.100
libswresample 4. 12.100 / 4. 12.100
libpostproc 57. 3.100 / 57. 3.100
Incorrect BOM value
Error reading comment frame, skipped
Incorrect BOM value
Error reading lyrics, skipped
Input #0, mp3, from 'in.mp3':
Metadata:
album : A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
genre : Rock
title : Signs Of Life
artist : Pink Floyd
track : 01
album_artist : Pink Floyd
date : 1987
Duration: 00:04:23.97, start: 0.025056, bitrate: 321 kb/s
Stream #0:0: Audio: mp3, 44100 Hz, stereo, fltp, 320 kb/s
Metadata:
encoder : LAME3.97
Stream #0:1: Video: mjpeg (Baseline), yuvj420p(pc, bt470bg/unknown/unknown), 500x500 [SAR 1:1 DAR 1:1], 90k tbr, 90k tbn (attached pic)
Metadata:
comment : Cover (front)
Stream mapping:
Stream #0:1 -> #0:0 (copy)
Stream #0:0 -> #0:1 (mp3 (mp3float) -> mp3 (libmp3lame))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
Output #0, mp3, to 'out.mp3':
Metadata:
TALB : A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
TCON : Rock
TIT2 : Signs Of Life
TPE1 : Pink Floyd
TRCK : 01
TPE2 : Pink Floyd
TDRC : 1987
TSSE : Lavf60.16.100
Stream #0:0: Video: mjpeg (Baseline), yuvj420p(pc, bt470bg/unknown/unknown), 500x500 [SAR 1:1 DAR 1:1], q=2-31, 90k tbr, 90k tbn (attached pic)
Metadata:
comment : Cover (front)
Stream #0:1: Audio: mp3, 44100 Hz, stereo, fltp
Metadata:
encoder : Lavc60.31.102 libmp3lame
[out#0/mp3 @ 0x5853cd73b540] video:52kB audio:7174kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead: 0.005825%
size= 7226kB time=00:04:23.89 bitrate= 224.3kbits/s speed=53.3x
$ mediainfo out.mp3
General
Complete name : out.mp3
Format : MPEG Audio
File size : 7.06 MiB
Duration : 4 min 23 s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 223 kb/s
Album : A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
Album/Performer : Pink Floyd
Track name : Signs Of Life
Track name/Position : 01
Performer : Pink Floyd
Genre : Rock
Recorded date : 1987
Writing library : LAME3.100
Cover : Yes
Cover type : Cover (front)
Cover MIME : image/jpeg
Audio
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Format settings : Joint stereo
Duration : 4 min 23 s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 224 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 kHz
Frame rate : 38.281 FPS (1152 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 7.01 MiB (99%)
Writing library : LAME3.100
Image
Format : JPEG
Width : 500 pixels
Height : 500 pixels
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 51.9 KiB (1%)
How can I conserve the comment tag?
-Ulf
More information about the ffmpeg-user
mailing list