Video, Audio & YouTube
Add chapters and tags to a podcast MP3 or M4A
Upload the finished episode and type its title and show name. Add chapter times and a cover if you have them. You get the episode back with chapters, tags and cover art written into the file.
or drop it here
Free: 3 jobs a day, files up to 10 MB. Pro: larger files and up to 200 jobs a day, €12.99/month or €89.99/year. Every job: up to 30 minutes. What fits in 10 MB
No chapters, no title, no cover. The player shows the file name.
- Intro
- Choosing a spot
- Soil and compost
- Listener questions
You downloadepisode.mp3chapters.csvpodcast-package-report.json
Chapter times: from show notes to the chapter file
Most chapter lists start as show notes, like 11:40 Soil and compost. The upload takes the same list as a small CSV file with each start in seconds: minutes × 60 + seconds. Here is the list from the example above.
| Show notes | Calculation | CSV line |
|---|---|---|
0:00 Intro | 0 | 0,Intro |
2:15 Choosing a spot | 2 × 60 + 15 | 135,Choosing a spot |
11:40 Soil and compost | 11 × 60 + 40 | 700,Soil and compost |
21:05 Listener questions | 21 × 60 + 5 | 1265,Listener questions |
chapters.csv
start,title
0,Intro
135,Choosing a spot
700,Soil and compost
1265,Listener questionsWrite it in any plain text editor and save it as chapters.csv, or use two spreadsheet columns named start and title and export them as CSV.
Full minutes in seconds
- 5:00 300
- 10:00 600
- 15:00 900
- 20:00 1200
- 25:00 1500
- 30:00 1800
- No hours needed: a job takes episodes up to 30 minutes, so every start fits in minutes and seconds.
- Decimals such as
135.5work. Times are written at millisecond precision. - An
endcolumn is optional. Without it, a chapter runs until the next one starts and the last one runs to the end of the episode. - Keep chapters in order, without overlaps, and keep commas out of chapter titles.
- No chapter list at all? Leave it out. Title, show name and cover are still written.
Will your episode fit in a free job?
Free jobs take files up to 10 MB. How many minutes that is depends on the bitrate the episode was exported with. A full 30-minute episode at 128 kbps does not fit.
| Bitrate | Fits in 10 MB | 30-minute episode |
|---|---|---|
| 64 kbps | about 21 min | about 14 MB |
| 96 kbps | about 14 min | about 22 MB |
| 128 kbps | about 10 min | about 29 MB |
| 192 kbps | about 7 min | about 43 MB |
Figures for constant bitrate, audio only. A cover already embedded in the file adds to its size. Your file manager shows the real size before you upload.
Larger than 10 MB: Pro takes larger files, still up to 30 minutes per job, for €12.99/month or €89.99/year. Compare plans
From upload to tagged episode
- 1
Choose the episode
One MP3 or M4A file per job, up to 30 minutes long. Free jobs take files up to 10 MB.
- 2
Enter the details
Episode title and show name are required. Add the chapter CSV and a cover image if you have them, then pick MP3, M4A or both.
- 3
Check and download
Tags, cover and chapters are read back from the finished file. The report lists what was found there.
Adding chapters, tags and artwork to a podcast episode
What is written into the file
The episode title and the show or artist name are written as tags. Each chapter from your CSV becomes a chapter mark with its title, and a cover image is embedded as the attached picture. Nothing else is written. A description or release date you did not supply stays empty instead of being filled with a guess.
Keeping the original audio
With “Preserve audio stream where possible” ticked and the same format in and out, the audio is copied and only the tags, cover and chapters change. If you ask for the other format, or leave the box unticked, the audio is encoded again.
Player support
Chapter support differs between podcast apps and file types. The report tells you what is in the file, not how a given app will show it, so try the episode in the apps your listeners use before you publish it.
Questions before you run it
Do I need an account?
Yes, a free account is enough. The 3 free jobs a day need you to sign in. Free jobs take files up to 10 MB. Failed jobs are not counted, and the counter resets at midnight UTC.
How long can the episode be?
Up to 30 minutes per job, one episode file per job. Longer files are stopped before any output is written, and a failed job does not use up a free job. Free jobs also stop at 10 MB, which is about 10 minutes at 128 kbps or about 21 minutes at 64 kbps. A 30-minute episode at 128 kbps is about 29 MB and needs Pro.
Will tagging re-encode my audio?
Not if you tick “Preserve audio stream where possible” and keep the format: MP3 stays MP3, M4A stays M4A, and the audio is copied as it is. Changing the format, or leaving the box unticked, encodes the audio again: MP3 with LAME at VBR quality 2, M4A as 192 kbit/s AAC. The report lists the codec of each output file.
What format does the chapter list take?
A CSV with a header row that contains start and title, and optionally end. Start times are seconds from the start of the episode, so 11:40 in your show notes becomes 700 (11 × 60 + 40). Decimals work, and times are written at millisecond precision. The chapter list is optional.
Do the chapters show up in every podcast app?
Support differs by container and by player, so the verification report states what was written rather than promising how a given app will display it.
Can it write a description or release date I did not supply?
No. Only the fields you confirm are written. A missing fact stays missing instead of being filled in with a plausible guess.
Can one run produce both MP3 and M4A?
Yes, both is one of the output options. Cover artwork and the chapter marks are written into each file and then read back for the verification report.