Founded back in 1998 and acquired by Sony in 2008, Gracenote has established itself at the forefront of the media metadata industry. But Sony is now trimming down and selling Gracenote to Chicago-based multimedia company Tribune.
While Gracenote may be best known as the company whose music database automatically recognizes tracks you rip from CDs on your computer, it has also provided the data for iTunes Genius, in-car entertainment systems, and even Twitter’s Verified account process for bands and musicians.
Moreover, the California-based company has been making a big push in recent times towards TV and video too, forming partnerships with second screen apps such as Zeebox (based on audio-fingerprinting), before going on to release its video APIs into the developer community.
Gracenote will now be combined with Tribune Media Services (TMS), another provider of TV and movie metadata, thus creating a media metadata mammoth.
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