Crop MP3 to first 30 seconds

Question

Original Question

I want to be able to generate a new (fully valid) MP3 file from an existing MP3 file to be used as a preview -- try-before-you-buy

Answer 1

you can use mp3cut:

cutmp3 -i foo.mp3 -O 30s.mp3 -a 0:00.0 -b 0:30.0

It's in ubuntu repo, so just: sudo apt-get install cutmp3.