Extract text from Band-in-a-Box song files (MG1)
To convert MG1 songs to another format, you need Band-in-a-Box or other Audio software.
To convert other file formats to the "MIDI Sequence" file type, you need software like Band-in-a-Box or a similar tool.
The .MG1 file extension primarily represents a Band-in-a-Box song file, a proprietary format used by PG Music Inc software to generate intelligent automatic accompaniment. These files contain chord progressions, style references (e.g., Jazz, Rock), and melody data, but they do not contain actual audio waveforms. Instead, they act as instructions for the software to synthesize music in real-time. A common issue for users is that .MG1 is an older legacy format; modern versions of the software typically use MGU or SGU. Because these files are strictly proprietary data containers, they cannot be opened by standard media players like VLC or Windows Media Player, effectively locking your musical ideas behind a specific software license.
For most users, the goal is to liberate this data. The best conversion workflow is to open the file in Band-in-a-Box and export it as a Standard MIDI File (.MID) for editing in any DAW (like Ableton Live or Logic Pro), or render it to WAV or MP3 for listening.
Note: You may also encounter .MG1 files as hidden thumbnail cache files generated by Canon ZoomBrowser EX. In this case, the file is not audio at all but a system artifact that can be safely deleted if you are cleaning up disk space.
Convert.Guru analyzes your MG1 file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted JPG, PDF, DSW, DRP and RCPROJECT files.
If you want to convert MG1 file to EXE, ISO, BIN, CUE, PAK, WAD, PK3, PK4, BSP, MAP, SAV or DAT, you can use Band-in-a-Box or similar software from the "Music Accompaniment Data" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MOD, BIN, CFG, SCX, DAT, MPQ, LOG, CUE, INI, EXE, SCM or ISO files to MG1, try Band-in-a-Box or another comparable tool in the "Music Accompaniment Data" 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 MG1 converter.