M3U Playlist Compatibility w/Emby

[PtpSteve 2]

The Emby music server works very well on my Synology DS220+ NAS (DSM7). However, I have my M3U playlists created for network access by uPnP players. The tracks are in the playlist as \\SNAS\Music\CDQ\trackx.mp3, where SNAS is the 'friendly' name for the NAS. This format will not work with Emby. My Emby music library is /Volume1/Music. So the only way that I avoid "playlist empty" error message is to reformat the track list in my playlists to /Volume1/Music/CDQ/trackx.mp3. Emby will not accept 'SNAS' or 'IP address' in place of 'Volume1', and will only accept forward slash. By 'accept' I mean for the playlist to work in Emby. 

So, is there a known solution or work-around for this issue so that I can have common playlist files between Emby and network players? Or is this a feature request? 

Thank you.

[Luke 42077]

Hi, right, there is currently no way to map that. The path in the playlist has to match the path used in Emby library setup.

But relative paths are also supported.

[dAyLiTe 5]

To clarity to this.

What PtpSteve has indicated is correct and works, however it's a combination of problem/feature request/workaround?.

When using a Synology NAS with Emby, music Playlists work a bit 'uniquely'.

In my case I installed the Emby 'Synology version', and care needs to be taken to ensure that the shared folder has the correct permissions in Synology. This needs to be done in the 'Control Panel', within 'Shared Folders' and then permissions. Note that within 'Permissions' that you need to look for Emby in the 'System Internal User' group and enable the read permissions. This is different if you are using a containerized install of Emby.

In Emby you then need to set the Music Library folder to the shared music folder:
Folder: /volume1/music (This is the Synology default)
(Optional) Shared network folder: \\Snas\music\ (Where Snas is the name of the server) - I have no idea if this is necessary or even required ?

At this point, music plays correctly from:
Synology AudioStation
Synology MediaServer
Windows - Any music player
Linkplay - Network DLNA music streamers from the Synology MediaServer
Emby - Any client device

So here's where things start going a bit awry with 'Playlists'

Test 1: Absolute reference - Windows file structure

If I create a M3U playlist (\\Snas\music\playlist\test.m3u) in a 'playlist' folder in the shared music folder using the following pathing:

\\Snas\music\ArtistA\Album01\Track01.mp3
\\Snas\music\ArtistA\Album01\Track02.mp3
\\Snas\music\ArtistB\Album01\Track01.mp3

The playlist is recognised as a playlist and works with:
Synology AudioStation
Synology MediaServer
Windows - Foobar2000 / Windows Media Player Legacy
Linkplay - Network UPNP/DLNA music streamers from the Synology MediaServer

It does not work with Emby, and although the playlist is shown on the client device, it's 'empty'.

Test 2: Relative reference - Windows file structure

Taking the same example above and using 'relative pathing' in the same M3U file has the following results:

..\ArtistA\Album01\Track01.mp3
..\ArtistA\Album01\Track02.mp3
..\ArtistB\Album01\Track01.mp3

The playlist is recognised as a playlist and works with:
Synology AudioStation
Synology MediaServer
Windows - Foobar2000 / Windows Media Player Legacy
Linkplay - Network UPNP/DLNA music streamers from the Synology MediaServer

It does not work with Emby, and although the playlist is shown on the client device, it's 'empty'.

Test 3: Relative reference - Unix file structure

Taking the same example above and using 'relative pathing' AND Unix pathing (ie. substitute '/' for '\') in the same M3U file has the following results:

../ArtistA/Album01/Track01.mp3
../ArtistA/Album01/Track02.mp3
../ArtistB/Album01/Track01.mp3

The playlist is recognised as a playlist and works with:
Synology AudioStation
Synology MediaServer
Windows - Foobar2000 / Windows Media Player Legacy
Linkplay - Network UPNP/DLNA music streamers from the Synology MediaServer
Does work with Emby Clients

 

It seems that the Synology, Windows and Linkplay clients can substitute '/' for '\' during their reading of the M3U files and seem to quite capable of recognizing the server file system and it's requirements and then parsing the M3U file accordingly.

It seems however that Emby is not able to provide this for it's clients, and hence is causing a fair bit of confusion. This is not really a 'fault' of Emby as it's technically correct, but rather that the norm has moved and it seems most other systems quite happily parse the M3U file.

This lack of M3U Windows/Unix file parsing merely makes playlists on Emby a pain to use, as the following steps are needed:
1. Create playlist on your favorite Windows editor (This creates a \\Snas\music\ArtistA\Album01\Track01.mp3 format) in the \\Snas\music\playlist\ folder.
2. Use a text editor to substitute all '\\Snas\music' for a '..'
3. Use a text editor to substitute all '\' for a '/'

It would be great if Emby could also recognize the formats in the Test 1 and Test 2 examples above, as it would make maintaining Playlists a HUGE amount easier from different client devices on different systems.

[Luke 42077]

On 6/22/2025 at 5:38 AM, dAyLiTe said:

To clarity to this.

What PtpSteve has indicated is correct and works, however it's a combination of problem/feature request/workaround?.

When using a Synology NAS with Emby, music Playlists work a bit 'uniquely'.

In my case I installed the Emby 'Synology version', and care needs to be taken to ensure that the shared folder has the correct permissions in Synology. This needs to be done in the 'Control Panel', within 'Shared Folders' and then permissions. Note that within 'Permissions' that you need to look for Emby in the 'System Internal User' group and enable the read permissions. This is different if you are using a containerized install of Emby.

In Emby you then need to set the Music Library folder to the shared music folder:
Folder: /volume1/music (This is the Synology default)
(Optional) Shared network folder: \\Snas\music\ (Where Snas is the name of the server) - I have no idea if this is necessary or even required ?

At this point, music plays correctly from:
Synology AudioStation
Synology MediaServer
Windows - Any music player
Linkplay - Network DLNA music streamers from the Synology MediaServer
Emby - Any client device

So here's where things start going a bit awry with 'Playlists'

Test 1: Absolute reference - Windows file structure

If I create a M3U playlist (\\Snas\music\playlist\test.m3u) in a 'playlist' folder in the shared music folder using the following pathing:

\\Snas\music\ArtistA\Album01\Track01.mp3
\\Snas\music\ArtistA\Album01\Track02.mp3
\\Snas\music\ArtistB\Album01\Track01.mp3

The playlist is recognised as a playlist and works with:
Synology AudioStation
Synology MediaServer
Windows - Foobar2000 / Windows Media Player Legacy
Linkplay - Network UPNP/DLNA music streamers from the Synology MediaServer

It does not work with Emby, and although the playlist is shown on the client device, it's 'empty'.

Test 2: Relative reference - Windows file structure

Taking the same example above and using 'relative pathing' in the same M3U file has the following results:

..\ArtistA\Album01\Track01.mp3
..\ArtistA\Album01\Track02.mp3
..\ArtistB\Album01\Track01.mp3

The playlist is recognised as a playlist and works with:
Synology AudioStation
Synology MediaServer
Windows - Foobar2000 / Windows Media Player Legacy
Linkplay - Network UPNP/DLNA music streamers from the Synology MediaServer

It does not work with Emby, and although the playlist is shown on the client device, it's 'empty'.

Test 3: Relative reference - Unix file structure

Taking the same example above and using 'relative pathing' AND Unix pathing (ie. substitute '/' for '\') in the same M3U file has the following results:

../ArtistA/Album01/Track01.mp3
../ArtistA/Album01/Track02.mp3
../ArtistB/Album01/Track01.mp3

The playlist is recognised as a playlist and works with:
Synology AudioStation
Synology MediaServer
Windows - Foobar2000 / Windows Media Player Legacy
Linkplay - Network UPNP/DLNA music streamers from the Synology MediaServer
Does work with Emby Clients

 

It seems that the Synology, Windows and Linkplay clients can substitute '/' for '\' during their reading of the M3U files and seem to quite capable of recognizing the server file system and it's requirements and then parsing the M3U file accordingly.

It seems however that Emby is not able to provide this for it's clients, and hence is causing a fair bit of confusion. This is not really a 'fault' of Emby as it's technically correct, but rather that the norm has moved and it seems most other systems quite happily parse the M3U file.

This lack of M3U Windows/Unix file parsing merely makes playlists on Emby a pain to use, as the following steps are needed:
1. Create playlist on your favorite Windows editor (This creates a \\Snas\music\ArtistA\Album01\Track01.mp3 format) in the \\Snas\music\playlist\ folder.
2. Use a text editor to substitute all '\\Snas\music' for a '..'
3. Use a text editor to substitute all '\' for a '/'

It would be great if Emby could also recognize the formats in the Test 1 and Test 2 examples above, as it would make maintaining Playlists a HUGE amount easier from different client devices on different systems.

Hi, we'll take a look at those. Thanks.

[gako 0]

Has this ever been addressed?

Currently running 4.8.11.0 on Debian 12 and had exactly the same problem. If I do not replace the "/" with "\" the playlist contents get deleted and nothing is populated inside the playlist.

[Luke 42077]

10 hours ago, gako said:

Has this ever been addressed?

Currently running 4.8.11.0 on Debian 12 and had exactly the same problem. If I do not replace the "/" with "\" the playlist contents get deleted and nothing is populated inside the playlist.

Hi, not for 4.8.11. We are looking into it. Thanks.