[c#] Playing a MP3 file in a WinForm application

I am developing a WinForm application. I want to play a MP3 file when the user clicks a button.

The MP3 file is located in the file system of the computer where the application is executed.
I have Googled for a while and I have found information about the System.Media.SoundPlayer class. But I have read that the SoundPlayer class can only be used to play files in .wav format.

What classes can be used to play files in .mp3 format ?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

You can do it using old DirectShow functionality.

This answer teaches you how to create QuartzTypeLib.dll:

1. Run tlbimp tool (in your case path will be different):

2. Run TlbImp.exe %windir%\system32\quartz.dll /out:QuartzTypeLib.dll

Alternatively, this project contains the library interop.QuartzTypeLib.dll, which is basically the same thing as steps 1. and 2. The following steps teach how to use this library:

3. Add generated QuartzTypeLib.dll as a COM-reference to your project (click right mouse button on the project name in "Solution Explorer", then select "Add" menu item and then "Reference")

4. In your Project, expand the "References", find the QuartzTypeLib reference. Right click it and select properties, and change "Embed Interop Types" to false. (Otherwise you won't be able to use the FilgraphManager class in your project (and probably a couple of other ones)).

5. In Project Settings, in the Build tab, I had to disable the Prefer 32-bit flag, Otherwise I would get this Exception: System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException: Exception from HRESULT: 0x80040266

6. Use this class to play your favorite MP3 file:

   using QuartzTypeLib;
   
   public sealed class DirectShowPlayer
   {
       private FilgraphManager FilterGraph;
   
       public void Play(string path)
       {
           FilgraphManager = new FilgraphManager();
           FilterGraph.RenderFile(path);
           FilterGraph.Run();
       }
   
       public void Stop()
       {
           FilterGraph?.Stop();
       }
   }
   

PS: TlbImp.exe can be found here: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\Bin", or in "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v10.0A\bin\NETFX 4.7.2 Tools"

Refactoring:

new WindowsMediaPlayer() { URL = "MyMusic.mp3" }.controls.play();

1) The most simple way would be using WMPLib

WMPLib.WindowsMediaPlayer Player;

private void PlayFile(String url)
{
    Player = new WMPLib.WindowsMediaPlayer();
    Player.PlayStateChange += Player_PlayStateChange;
    Player.URL = url;
    Player.controls.play();
}

private void Player_PlayStateChange(int NewState)
{
    if ((WMPLib.WMPPlayState)NewState == WMPLib.WMPPlayState.wmppsStopped)
    {
        //Actions on stop
    }
}

2) Alternatively you can use the open source library NAudio. It can play mp3 files using different methods and actually offers much more than just playing a file.

This is as simple as

using NAudio;
using NAudio.Wave;

IWavePlayer waveOutDevice = new WaveOut();
AudioFileReader audioFileReader = new AudioFileReader("Hadouken! - Ugly.mp3");

waveOutDevice.Init(audioFileReader);
waveOutDevice.Play();

Don't forget to dispose after the stop

waveOutDevice.Stop();
audioFileReader.Dispose();
waveOutDevice.Dispose();

You can use the mciSendString API to play an MP3 or a WAV file:

[DllImport("winmm.dll")]
public static extern uint mciSendString( 
    string lpstrCommand,
    StringBuilder lpstrReturnString,
    int uReturnLength,
    IntPtr hWndCallback
);

mciSendString(@"close temp_alias", null, 0, IntPtr.Zero);
mciSendString(@"open ""music.mp3"" alias temp_alias", null, 0, IntPtr.Zero);
mciSendString("play temp_alias repeat", null, 0, IntPtr.Zero);

1. first go to the properties of your project
2. click on add references

3. add the library under COM object for window media player then type your code where you want

   
   Source:

       WMPLib.WindowsMediaPlayer wplayer = new WMPLib.WindowsMediaPlayer();
   
       wplayer.URL = @"C:\Users\Adil M\Documents\Visual Studio 2012\adil.mp3";
       wplayer.controls.play();