How to read "Contributing Artist" metadata in C++?

Question

Windows 7 has a very nifty way of showing "Contributing Artist" metadata in Windows Explorer. In wonder how can I access that metadata from C++? Maybe you even point to some source code? Greatly appreciate in advance.

Answer 1

Assuming we're talking about MP3s, I'd guess it uses ID3 tags.

Answer 2

Assuming you can limit your app to Windows Vista and later, use IPropertyStore. Otherwise each file type needs to be parsed independently.

Answer 3

I found this metadata reader worked well with mp3 and wma files.