Library & files
M3U playlist
An M3U is a plain text file listing paths to audio files in order. Almost every application can read one, which makes it the lowest common denominator for moving a running order between programs.
In practice
Use M3U to hand an order to another program, and expect nothing else to travel with it.
Prefer relative paths where the software offers them, so the file survives being moved with its audio, and M3U8 rather than M3U if any filename contains a character outside plain ASCII — the difference is that M3U8 is UTF-8 encoded and will not mangle them. If what you actually want to move is a prepared library, this is the wrong tool: export from the DJ software instead, and accept that it only reads its own format.
Order only
What it carries
Relative
Which paths to use
M3U8
If filenames are not ASCII
Where these come from: File-format facts and conventions, not catalog figures — M3U is a plain text list and predates every DJ application that reads it. For what we can measure, see what a playlist is meant to be.
Why it matters
It is the format that survives everything, precisely because it carries almost nothing. No grids, no cue points, no tags — just an ordered list of file paths, which is exactly what you want when the receiving software is not the one you use.
That minimalism is also its failure mode. An M3U is a list of paths, so it breaks the moment the files move, and it says nothing about the tracks themselves — which is why it moves an order and never moves a library.
Frequently asked
What does an M3U file contain?+
An ordered list of paths to audio files, optionally with track names and durations. No beatgrids, no cue points and no tags — the audio is elsewhere and the file only points at it.
What is the difference between M3U and M3U8?+
The encoding. M3U8 is UTF-8, so filenames with accents or non-Latin characters survive; plain M3U can mangle them.
Can you import an M3U into DJ software?+
Most applications will read one and create a playlist from it, provided the paths still resolve. What arrives is the order and nothing you prepared.
Related terms
Playlist vs crate
A crate is a collection of tracks you might play; a playlist is a running order you intend to play. The distinction is order — a crate is a box, a playlist is a sequence.
Cue sheet
A cue sheet is a small text file listing what plays when inside one long audio recording — track titles, artists and start times. It is how a recorded mix is split into a tracklist without being cut into separate files.
Library database
Your DJ software keeps its own database of everything it knows about your collection — file locations, beatgrids, cue points, crates, play history. The audio files sit elsewhere on disk; the database is what turns them into a library.
Set list
A set list is the running order a DJ intends to play — the sequence rather than the collection. How long it needs to be is arithmetic: slot length divided by how long the records actually run.
Explore: Playlist vs crate · Flow Builder · Cue sheet · All DJ terms