MediaPlayer does not receive stream metadata.

[Driglu4it]

In Qt6 MediaPlayer can only get this metadata:
Duration: 00:00:00
Audio codec: AAC
Audio bit rate: 319798
Container Format: AAC

At the same time, in Qt5 MediaPlayer from the same source, in addition to the data above, it also shows the genre and title.

[SGaist]

Hi and welcome to devnet,

You should also add the exact version of Qt 6. As Qt 6.5 switched the multimedia backend to ffmpeg.

The OS version would also be useful.

[Driglu4it]

@SGaist Qt6.5, Linux Distribution (Manjaro KDE). ffmpeg can display meta (ICY metadata from command ffmpeg -i %stream%), but MediaPlayer can't display it...

[Driglu4it]

@Driglu4it, sorry for Qt6.5 Linux Neon Developer Edition*

[SGaist]

Which release of 6.5 is it ?

[Driglu4it]

@SGaist, yes Qt 6.5

[Niclas Eisenhut]

Hi,

I can confirm this regression is still present in Qt 6.9.3 on Linux.
I am streaming Internet Radio (ICY/Shoutcast). The underlying FFmpeg backend clearly logs the metadata (StreamTitle), so the data is definitely arriving. However, neither QML (MediaPlayer.metaData) nor C++ (QMediaPlayer::metaData()) exposes this data.

I have tried iterating through all available metadata keys (0-20) and requesting the raw "StreamTitle" key explicitly in C++, but it returns empty strings.

FFmpeg Log (Success):

Input #0, aac, from 'https://mp3.ffh.de/ffhchannels/hqeurodance.aac':
  Metadata:
    StreamTitle     : Jam & Spoon - Angel
    StreamUrl       : 90004532

Qt/QML Debug Log (Failure):

qml: --- DEBUGGING METADATA MAPPING ---
qml: Direct 'StreamTitle': ""
qml: Direct 'icy-name': ""
qml: Found data at ID [10]: 00:00:00  (Duration)
qml: Found data at ID [12]: AAC       (Codec)

It seems the FFmpeg backend in Qt Multimedia is parsing the ICY headers but failing to populate the QMediaMetaData dictionary for live streams.

Has anyone found a workaround using standard Qt APIs, or is the only solution to implement a parallel TCP socket to sniff the headers manually?

[SGaist]

@Niclas-Eisenhut hi and welcome to devnet,

Can you also confirme this with the latest 6.10 release ?

[Niclas Eisenhut]

@SGaist

Hi,

I have tested this with Qt 6.9.3, Qt 6.10.2, and even the Qt 6.11.0-beta2 snapshot.
The result is identical in all versions: The metadata is visible in the FFmpeg debug output, but completely missing from the QML/C++ API.

In my application i switched to libvlcpp, so i made this MRE (Minimal Reproducible Example) with Gemini:

Main.qml

import QtQuick
import QtMultimedia

Window {
    width: 400
    height: 300
    visible: true
    title: "Metadata Tester"

    MediaPlayer {
        id: player
        source: "http://mp3.ffh.de/radioffh/hqlivestream.mp3"
        audioOutput: AudioOutput {}
        autoPlay: true

        onMetaDataChanged: {
            console.log("\n--- METADATA RECEIVED ---")
            var meta = player.metaData

            if (!meta) {
                console.log("MetaData Object is null/undefined")
                return
            }

            // 1. Check Standard Qt Enum (Title)
            var standardTitle = meta.stringValue(MediaMetaData.Title)
            console.log("Standard Title (Enum): " + (standardTitle ? standardTitle : "[EMPTY]"))

            // 2. Check Raw FFmpeg/ICY Key
            var rawStreamTitle = meta.stringValue("StreamTitle")
            console.log("Raw Key 'StreamTitle': " + (rawStreamTitle ? rawStreamTitle : "[EMPTY]"))

            var rawIcyName = meta.stringValue("icy-name")
            console.log("Raw Key 'icy-name':    " + (rawIcyName ? rawIcyName : "[EMPTY]"))

            // 3. Dump ALL available keys to prove what Qt actually exposes
            console.log("-- Dumping all available keys --")
            var keys = meta.keys()
            for (var i = 0; i < keys.length; i++) {
                var key = keys[i]
                var val = meta.stringValue(key)
                console.log("Key [" + key + "] = " + val)
            }
            console.log("-----------------------------\n")
        }

        onErrorOccurred: {
            console.log("Error: " + errorString)
        }
    }
}

Results (Qt 6.10.2 & 6.11.0-beta2)
As you can see, FFmpeg successfully parses the ICY headers (StreamTitle: Bruno Mars), but Qt only exposes the technical audio details (Bitrate/Codec).
The only thing which changed is the FFmpeg version.

info: Using Qt multimedia with FFmpeg version 7.1.2
Input #0, mp3, from 'http://mp3.ffh.de/radioffh/hqlivestream.mp3':
  Metadata:
    icy-name        : HIT RADIO FFH
    StreamTitle     : Bruno Mars - I Just Might
  Duration: N/A, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 128 kb/s

debug: --- METADATA RECEIVED ---
debug: Standard Title: undefined
debug: Raw StreamTitle: undefined
debug: Raw icy-name:    undefined
debug: -- Dumping all available keys --
debug: Key [10] = 00:00:00
debug: Key [12] = MP3
debug: Key [13] = 128000
debug: Key [14] = MP3

[Niclas Eisenhut]

I also tested Qt 6.4.3 because you mentioned As Qt 6.5 switched the multimedia backend to ffmpeg, in which I got Key [7] (Publisher) = HIT RADIO FFH, so the Station Name is mapped, but the Song Title (StreamTitle) is still missing

I used Debian 13 btw