How can I remove the image from an mp3 file?

Question

Is there a way/tool/library out there that can programmatically remove the image (ie cover artwork) from an mp3 file?

(The ability to do it in Java would be a bonus.)

Thanks

Just in case...

...anyone is wondering why I want to do this, we're hitting a bug in the otherwise excellent JavaZoom mp3 player library. I have contacted the author to see if we can pay to get the bug fixed, but I'm hoping there's a workaround in the meantime. I did look at fixing the code myself but I don't understand the internals of an MP3 well enough to do it.

Answer 1

ID3 offers a standard frame for cover art. Any library able to modify ID3 tags in MP3 files should be able to remove the frame from the file. I loathe Java with all of my heart, so I am unable to provide you with a decent library there, but I know that libraries exist (in other languages) that are very well able to do this (for example, here is one in Python, and Perl's MP3::Tag should be able to do this also).

I'd suggest you look around and try to search an ID3 library that is able to remove APIC frames in Java. I found MyID3 which claims support for APIC, but I don't know if it's actually able to remove the frames (vs. just reading them) - I am sure you'll find something, though.

Edit: If all else fails, the Python version comes with a small command line script that offers an option to remove all APIC frames from a given file.