MP3 files won't play in the iPhone messaging / text app after the iOS 26 upgrade.

Why won't MP3 files that I share in the iphone text/messages app play anymore? I used to do this regularly with my friends -- share MP3 files with them (I'm a musician) via our text messages. But with the iOS 26 update, the iPhone tries to convert the MP3 file to MP4, but it botches the attempt. An MP4 file is sitting in a thread and it will not play. You see some metadata about the file and when I long press on the file there is no option to play it an alternative way. When I select the more option after a long press on it, it crashes back into the messaging app. Apple really is a closed garden. This is a genuine bug and *** for me.