Why do so many m3u / cue files NOT WORK with VLC?

[98Guy]

I download a lot of CD's and I'm really getting pissed off that VLC cacks with a window full of error messages when opening many m3u or m3u8 or cue files. I think that some of the issues are related to whether or not a file name is listed as a .wav or .flac in the .cue or .m3u file.

Can someone explain why are there so many different types of these play-list or directory or index files - and why is VLC gives errors when opening many of them?

[VLC_help]

You can usually spot the errors via Tools -> Messages (set Verbosity to 2). Open that dialog and then try to open the file.

IIRC with current VLC versions cue files are more or less associated to VCD images.