View source for XML Shareable Playlist Format

{{primary sources|date=March 2013}}
{{Infobox file format
| name = XSPF
| extension = .xspf
| mime = application/xspf+xml
| owner = Xiph.Org Foundation
| creatorcode =
| genre = [[Playlist]]
| containerfor =
| containedby =
| extendedfrom = [[XML]]
| extendedto =
}}

'''XML Shareable Playlist Format''' ('''XSPF'''), pronounced ''spiff'',<ref>{{cite web |url=https://xspf.org/quickstart|title=XSPF: XML Shareable Playlist Format: Quick Start|access-date=2009-04-23}}</ref> is an [[XML]]-based [[playlist]] format for [[digital media]], sponsored by the [[Xiph.Org Foundation]].

XSPF is a file 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]]. An XSPF-compliant content resolver will open XSPF playlists and search a catalog for every title with <code>&lt;creator&gt;</code>, <code>&lt;album&gt;</code> and <code>&lt;title&gt;</code> 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 ==
<syntaxhighlight lang="xml">
<?xml version="1.1" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<playlist version="1" xmlns="http://xspf.org/ns/0/">
  <trackList>
    <track>
      <title>Windows Path</title>
      <location>file://C:\music\foo.mp3</location>
    </track>
    <track>
      <title>Linux Path</title>
      <location>file:///media/music/foo.mp3</location>
    </track>
    <track>
      <title>Relative Path</title>
      <location>music/foo.mp3</location>
    </track>
    <track>
      <title>External Example</title>
      <location>http://www.example.com/music/bar.ogg</location>
    </track>
  </trackList>
</playlist>
</syntaxhighlight>

== History ==
XSPF was created by an ''ad hoc'' working group that commenced activities 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 the Xiph.Org Foundation.

== Features ==
* A playlist format like [[M3U]] or ASX
* [[MIME]] content-type of <code>application/xspf+xml</code>
* Patent-free (no patents by the primary authors)
* Specification under the [[Creative Commons license|Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 license]]
* XML, like [[Atom (standard)|Atom]]
* [[Unicode]] support
* [[Cross-platform]] support

== Software and web playlist converters ==
{{category see also|Media players|Tag editors}}
* [[Amarok (software)|Amarok]]
* [[Foobar2000]] (with appropriate plugin)
* [[Audacious (software)|Audacious]]
* [[Banshee (media player)|Banshee]]
* [[Clementine (software)|Clementine]]
* [[Tomahawk (software)|Tomahawk]]
* [[VLC media player]] (stand-alone player, available on every major platform)
* XMMS2 (has a plugin to parse XSPF)
* [[Last.fm]] (export of playlists and personal tag radios in XSPF)
* [[Soundiiz]] (playlist converter for several streaming sites)
* [[youtube-dl]] (downloader)

==See also==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
; Other playlist file formats
* [[M3U]] - The most common playlist format
* [[PLS (file format)|PLS]] - SHOUTcast

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{official website|https://xspf.org/}}
* [https://validator.xspf.org/ Online XSPF Validator]
* [https://xspf.org/spec XSPF Version 1 specification].

{{Xiph.org}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xml Shareable Playlist Format}}
[[Category:Open formats]]
[[Category:Playlist file formats]]
[[Category:Playlist markup languages]]
[[Category:Xiph.Org projects]]
[[Category:XML-based standards]]