---
id: eyed3
version: "0.9.9"
license: unclear
license_treatment: copyleft
maintenance: active
---

# eyeD3 — Python audio data toolkit (ID3 and MP3)

License: copyleft · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 95.6K/mo

## What it is and what it does

eyeD3 is a Python toolkit for reading and editing ID3 metadata tags embedded in MP3 files. It exposes both a command-line interface (the eyeD3 command) and a Python library (import eyed3) so you can either tag files interactively from the shell or integrate metadata operations into your own applications. The library handles ID3 versions 1.x, 2.2 (read-only), 2.3, and 2.4, and can extract audio properties like play time, bit rate, and sampling frequency.

The package is designed around a plugin architecture, allowing you to write custom handlers for specialized tasks like album art downloading, collection statistics, or output formatting to JSON, YAML, or other formats. It depends only on filetype and deprecation, keeping the installation lightweight. The project is actively maintained and supports Python 3.10 through 3.14.

Use it for:

- Batch-tag MP3 files from the command line to set artist, album, title, and track metadata at scale
- Write Python scripts to automate ID3 tag management across music collections or media workflows
- Extract and display audio properties (duration, bitrate, sampling rate) from MP3 files programmatically
- Build custom plugins or applications that read or modify ID3 tags as part of a larger audio processing pipeline
- Validate and repair ID3 metadata in existing MP3 files using the command-line tool or library

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

eyeD3 reads, edits, and displays ID3 metadata tags in MP3 files via both a command-line tool and a Python library.

Yes, if you work with MP3 files and need to read or edit ID3 metadata. The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, and offers both CLI and library interfaces. The GPLv3 license is a blocker only if you're building proprietary software; for open-source projects or personal use it poses no issue. No known security vulnerabilities.

## Install

pip install eyed3
uv add eyed3
poetry add eyed3

## Installing eyeD3

Before you install: Low install friction with only two runtime dependencies (filetype and deprecation). Actively maintained with recent commits and a stable release history; last release was 271 days ago and the repository remains active.

License in practice: Licensed under GPLv3 (copyleft), which requires that any derivative work or distribution must also be open-source under compatible terms. Suitable for open-source projects but not for proprietary applications without careful licensing review.

Quickstart:

pip install eyed3

import eyed3
audiofile = eyed3.load("song.mp3")
audiofile.tag.artist = "Artist Name"
audiofile.tag.title = "Song Title"
audiofile.tag.save()

Requires Python >= 3.10

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package handles edge cases in corrupted or malformed ID3 tags gracefully
- Performance characteristics when processing large MP3 collections or batch operations
- Completeness of support for all ID3 frame types and extensions beyond standard metadata

## Package facts

- License: not declared (copyleft)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 95.6K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

mp3 id3 tag editor, audio metadata python, id3 tag reader writer, mp3 file metadata tool, command-line mp3 tagger, python id3 library, audio-metadata, cli-tool

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/eyed3) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/eyed3/)