"Format not recognised." for m4a files

[bohning]

When I try to read an m4a file via

import soundfile as sf
data, samplerate = sf.read('test.m4a')

I get the following error:

soundfile.LibsndfileError: Error opening 'songs/test.m4a': Format not recognised.

Is m4a not supported? Or am I doing something wrong? The file plays just fine e.g. in VLC, was encoded by "Lavf60.3.100".

[bastibe]

M4A is not supported. Soundfile is based on libsndfile, and libsndfile does not support M4A, as it is encumbered by patents. The last M4A patents will expire in 2028 (base profile) and 2031, so expect support to be added some time after that.

[bohning]

Ah, good to know. Thanks a lot for your answer.