# Install mpg321 with Homebrew, apt

Command-line MP3 player. Version 0.3.2 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-19. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install mpg321.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:mpg321
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install mpg321
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install mpg321
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: mpg321 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:mpg321
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.3.2
- **Source summary:** Command-line MP3 player
- **Homepage:** <https://mpg321.sourceforge.net/>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-19T12:32:40-07:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- mpg321 (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.3.2
## Project history and usage

mpg321 is a GPL command-line MP3 player created as a free replacement for mpg123. Its homepage credits Joe Drew as the person who conceived and wrote the project, notes that it uses code from Rob Leslie's MAD distribution, XMMS, and plaympeg from SMPEG, and lists Nanakos Chrysostomos as maintainer for the later SourceForge-hosted releases.

### Project history

The tool was designed to behave like mpg123 for front ends, scripts, and software that shell out to an MP3 decoder. That compatibility goal made it especially useful for package distributions and desktop front ends during the era when mpg123's licensing caused friction: mpg321 could play MP3 files, serve as a backend for other applications, and decode MP3 to WAV for CD-recording workflows while relying on the integer-only MAD decoder.

### How it is used

Its package-manager niche is narrow but clear: a small mpg123-compatible player rather than a general multimedia framework. Debian and Homebrew package it under its own name, and Debian describes it as a clone intended to function as a drop-in replacement in many cases, with some mpg123 functionality left unimplemented.

### Sources

- <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/mpg321>
- <https://linux.die.net/man/1/mpg321>
- <https://mpg321.sourceforge.net/>
- <https://packages.debian.org/sid/mpg321>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - mpg321 - 0.3.2-4: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: mpg321 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Simple and lightweight command line MP3 player | https://mpg321.sourceforge.net
- Ubuntu apt - mpg321 - 0.3.2-3.3build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: mpg321 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Simple and lightweight command line MP3 player | http://mpg321.sourceforge.net


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/mpg321.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/mpg321.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph