Extract text from background music files (BGM)
To convert BGM music files to another format, you need VGMStream or other Game software.
To convert other file formats to the "Game Data File" file type, you need software like VGMStream or a similar tool.
The .BGM file extension is highly overloaded. Video game developers frequently use it as a generic container for either BackGround Music or Binary Game Models. In audio contexts, .BGM files store looping soundtracks for consoles like the Sony PlayStation Portable, Super Nintendo, or Nintendo Switch. Some are simply standard Ogg Vorbis or RIFF WAV audio files with a changed extension, while others use heavily proprietary sequencing or console-specific compression (such as Capcom's MT Framework). In 3D graphics, .BGM files store vehicle models, car bodies, or track geometry for racing games like Need for Speed: Underground 2, Midtown Madness, and Crash Tag Team Racing.
Opening these files is practically impossible for average users. Because they are ripped directly from compiled game archives, standard software like VLC media player or Blender will reject them. They usually lack standard file headers, rely on undocumented data structures, and require the original game engine to render correctly. To convert a 3D .BGM model to a standard OBJ or FBX, users must rely on niche reverse-engineering tools like Noesis. To convert audio variants to MP3 or WAV, users need specialized game audio decoders like VGMStream.
This makes the .BGM format notoriously difficult to open or convert. Standard online converters automatically fail because they try to process the file based on its extension, which is effectively meaningless here. Our deep-file analyzer reads the internal hexadecimal signature. If your .BGM file is actually a disguised OGG file, an uncompressed RIFF WAVE, or contains plain text JSON metadata (common in Super Mario Bros. X), we can identify the true format, extract the playable audio, and convert it to universal standards.
Convert.Guru analyzes your BGM file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted MP3, WAV, M4A, RPGMVO, OGG, MP4, BMP, RAR, CHD and PCM files.
If you want to convert BGM file to MP3, WAV, AAC, FLAC, OGG, WMA, M4A, AIFF, OPUS, ALAC, APE or WV, you can use VGMStream or similar software from the "Game Audio & 3D Models" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MIDI, AAC, TTA, AU, WV, DTS, MID, FLAC, RA, MP3, PCM or WAV files to BGM, try VGMStream or another comparable tool in the "Game Audio & 3D Models" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our BGM converter.