XSPF playlist element

An XSPF file is one XML document. Its root is playlist, defined in section 4.1.1 of the XSPF version 1 specification. This page covers that element and its children. Tracks are on Track element, and the rules for players and generators on Processing rules.

playlist

Attribute	Required	Value	Meaning
`xmlns`	yes	`http://xspf.org/ns/0/`	The XSPF namespace. It stays at 0 for version 1, because version 1 playlists remain readable by version 0 parsers.
`version`	yes	`1`	The version of the format this document follows. The earlier format is `0`.

The element has no other attributes of its own. In a generated playlist the xml:base attribute can also appear, because relative URIs are resolved under XML Base.

Children

The order of the child elements is not fixed by the specification. Where the count is 0 or 1, an element may appear at most once.

Element	Count	Content	Meaning
`title`	0 or 1	text	Human-readable title of the playlist.
`creator`	0 or 1	text	Human-readable name of the author or group that made the playlist.
`annotation`	0 or 1	text, no markup	A human-readable comment. “Character data, not HTML”.
`info`	0 or 1	URI	A web page with more about the playlist, likely the author’s homepage.
`location`	0 or 1	URI	Where this playlist’s source can be found.
`identifier`	0 or 1	URI	A canonical, location-independent ID such as a hash. Must be a legal URI.
`image`	0 or 1	URI	An image to show when no `trackList` image applies.
`date`	0 or 1	XML Schema `dateTime`	Creation date, not last-modified. With no timezone, UTC may be assumed. Example: `2005-01-08T17:10:47-05:00`.
`license`	0 or 1	URI	A resource describing the licence of the playlist.
`attribution`	0 or 1	list of URIs	Ancestors of this playlist; see below.
`link`	0 or more	URI	A link to a related resource; see below.
`meta`	0 or more	text, no markup	A metadata field; see below.
`extension`	0 or more	nested XML	Application data; see below.
`trackList`	exactly 1	`track` elements	The list of tracks. Required.

trackList

trackList is an ordered list of track elements, and it may be empty. The order is a hint: a player is advised to play the tracks from top to bottom unless told otherwise.

attribution

An ordered list of URIs, used to meet licences that require attribution of modified works. The specification’s example shows location and identifier children, each holding a URI.

<attribution>
  <location>http://bar.com/modified_version_of_original_playlist.xspf</location>
  <identifier>somescheme:original_playlist.xspf</identifier>
</attribution>

When a playlist is modified, its own location or identifier moves to the top of the attribution list. The specification suggests dropping entries more than ten generations back.

link, meta and extension

These three let a playlist carry things the specification does not define. They work identically at playlist and track level.

Element	Attribute	Attribute value	Content
`link`	`rel`	URI of a resource type	URI of a resource of that type.
`meta`	`rel`	URI defining the metadata	Plain text. It may not contain markup.
`extension`	`application`	URI defining the structure and purpose of the nested XML	Arbitrary nested XML, which `link` and `meta` cannot hold.

<link rel="http://foaf.example/namespace/version1">http://socialnetwork.example/foaf/mary.rdfs</link>
<meta rel="http://example.org/key">value</meta>
<extension application="http://example.com">
  <cl:clip start="25000" end="34500" xmlns:cl="http://example.com"/>
</extension>

One of each extension element. The URIs here are examples.

A complete document

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<playlist version="1" xmlns="http://xspf.org/ns/0/">
  <title>Road trip</title>
  <creator>Mary Example</creator>
  <annotation>Songs for a long drive.</annotation>
  <info>http://example.com/mary/</info>
  <location>http://example.com/mary/roadtrip.xspf</location>
  <identifier>urn:uuid:0d83f5e9-4a6f-4b27-9f15-2a5c9f8a6b01</identifier>
  <image>http://example.com/mary/roadtrip.jpg</image>
  <date>2005-01-08T17:10:47-05:00</date>
  <license>http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</license>
  <trackList>
    <track>
      <location>http://example.com/song_1.ogg</location>
      <title>First Song</title>
      <creator>Artist Name</creator>
      <duration>215000</duration>
    </track>
  </trackList>
</playlist>

An XSPF playlist using the main playlist-level elements.