The ID3 metadata container is often associated with MP3 files. There are two versions of the embedded structure: ID3v1 and ID3v2. The ID3v1 version is the final 128 bytes of the file and has a different structure from the updated format. The newer version, which we'll focus on, is located at the beginning of the file and is variable in length.
An ID3 tag has a simpler structure compared with EXIF tags. The first 16 bytes are evenly split between the tag ID and the length of the metadata. Following that is the metadata itself. The following screenshot contains the first 144 bytes of an MP3 file:
The file signature of MP3 files is the ASCII ID3. Shortly after the signature, we can see different tags, such as TP1, TP2, and TCM. These are metadata tags for the artist, band, and composer, respectively. The next 8 bytes following TP1 is the length...
