Is there an easy way to split mp3 files?

I regularly use mp3splt. It is an open source program for Windows and Linux, and includes a gui (which I don't use, so I can't comment on it).

This is the commandline I usually use to split a podcast into 6 minute segments:

mp3splt podcast.mp3 -g %[@N=0,@o] -o "@n @f" -t 6.0
  • -t 6.0: split every 6 minutes
  • -g %[@N=0,@o]: for every section use the original tags, but update the track number starting from 0.
  • -o "@n @f": The output file name should be the original filename with the track number tacked on in front.

There are two ways to split an MP3:

  1. Decoding into a wave, splitting, and re-encoding. This is the method Audacity uses and results in lost audio quality.
  2. Splitting the MP3 directly. You have a lower resolution for where to split, but the result is no loss in audio quality. I've used MP3DirectCut with relatively good success.

Usually you will want to use the 2nd method since it is lossless, unless you really don't care about your audio quality.


It's not as easy as the command you mention in your question. With that being said there are easy ways to do it.

Audacity is one free program that allows you to split mp3s. It's relatively easy to use once you get a hang of the interface.