PLS File Extension

What is the .PLS file type?

The .pls extension is mainly associated with the PLS playlist file format. PLS is a cross-platform format, and .pls files are supported by a number of popular media players like iTunes, VLC, Winamp etc.

A .pls file is a plaintext playlist file used to connect to various audio streaming media services, such as Internet radio broadcasts (like SHOUTcast). The purpose behind the PLS format is to provide a connection point, to feed a stream into a player. Many Internet radio stations offer PLS files on their web sites.

PLS files are somewhat similar to M3U, although the PLS format is more versatile. A typical .pls file is very similar to an .ini file by its internal structure. A plaintext .pls file does not contain any media data, but a 'URL:port' reference to it.

A media player playing a radio stream via a .pls playlist would consume much less bandwidth and system resources than if the same media were opened in a typical browser.

The .pls extension can alternatively belong to data files created by earlier versions of MYOB accounting software (prior to 2006).

Another occurrence of the .pls extension is to denote Pronunciation Lexicon Specification (PLS) files that contain detailed description of a language's phonetics for various text-to-speech and text recognition engines, along the W3C PLS recommendation.

In PicoLog data logging software, the .pls extension is bound up with .pls settings files.

Software to open or convert PLS files

VLC media player by VideoLAN

 

iTunes by Apple Inc.

 

Winamp by Nullsoft, Inc

 

MPC-HC

 

KMPlayer by PandoraTV

 

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