Discovery of music artist and title for syndicated content played by radio stations

Abstract

Systems at a radio station provide representations to an acoustic fingerprinting service of audio content being broadcast for the provision of metadata identifying the audio content by the acoustic fingerprinting service back to the radio station for transmitting over the air or over the Internet simultaneously with the broadcast audio.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for a radio station to obtain metadata identification from an acoustic fingerprinting system of songs and other audio content currently playing by said radio station, comprising the steps of:
 with a computer system at a radio station, said computer system co-located with said radio station's broadcast systems and electronically coupled to an audio source of said radio station, said audio source providing said computer system with the audio content currently being played and broadcast by said radio station,   a. receiving said audio content from said audio source;   b. optionally obtaining metadata associated with said audio content from said radio station's broadcast systems;   c. optionally obtaining acoustic fingerprints of said audio content from said radio station's broadcast systems;   d. sending a representation of said currently playing audio content via the Internet to an acoustic fingerprinting system for the provision of metadata identification of said audio content, said representation comprising at least one of the following:
 i. a sample comprising a portion up to the entirety of said audio content; 
 ii. an acoustic fingerprint of said audio content element; 
 iii. metadata describing said audio content; and, 
   e. receiving said metadata identification of said audio content from said acoustic fingerprinting system via the Internet, said metadata of a song recognized within said audio content by said acoustic fingerprinting system to include the artist and tile of the song.   
     
     
         2 . A method as described in  claim 1  further comprising said computer system of said radio station submitting said received metadata to a broadcast encoder concurrently with the playing of said song, said broadcast encoder being electronically coupled to said radio station's transmitter and suitably encoding said metadata for broadcast transmission, said broadcast encoder submitting said encoded metadata to said radio station's broadcast transmission systems for broadcasting said metadata over the air, wherein compatible radio receivers tuned to said radio station receive said metadata in conjunction with the audio from said radio station, and are thus enabled to display the artist and title of the song being played. 
     
     
         3 . A method as described in  claim 1  wherein said radio station simulcasts said broadcast audio on the Internet for reception by Internet media players, further comprising said computer system of said radio station submitting said received metadata to an electronically coupled co-located digital encoder concurrently with the playing of said song, said digital encoder suitably encoding said metadata and transmitting said encoded metadata on the Internet for simultaneous reception with said simulcast audio by said Internet media players, said media players thus being enabled to display the artist and title of a song as it is being played. 
     
     
         4 . A method as described in  claim 1  further comprising said computer system of said radio station sending an identification of said radio station to said acoustic fingerprinting system via the Internet in conjunction with sending a representation of said audio content for the provision of metadata identification. 
     
     
         5 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium containing processor readable code for programming a processor for use in operating a computer system at a radio station to obtain metadata identification from an acoustic fingerprinting system of songs and other audio content currently playing by said radio station, comprising:
 with a computer system at a radio station, said computer system co-located with said radio station's broadcast systems and electronically coupled to an audio source of said radio station, the audio from said audio source comprising the audio content currently being played and broadcast by said radio station;   a. a routine arranged to receive said audio content from said audio source;   b. optionally comprising a routing for obtaining metadata associated with said audio content from said radio station's broadcast systems;   c. optionally comprising a routing for obtaining fingerprints of said audio content from said radio station's broadcast systems;   d. a routine arranged for sending a representation of said audio content via the Internet to an acoustic fingerprinting system for the provision of metadata identification of said audio content, said representation comprising at least one of the following:
 i. a routine for sending an audio sample comprising a portion up to the entirety of said audio content; 
 ii. a routine for sending an acoustic fingerprint of said audio content; 
 iii. a routine for sending metadata describing said audio content; and, 
   e. a routine for receiving said metadata identification of said audio content by said computer system from said acoustic fingerprinting system via the Internet, said metadata of a song recognized within said audio content by said acoustic fingerprinting system to include the artist and tile of the song.   
     
     
         6 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 5  further comprising a routine for submitting said received metadata to a broadcast encoder concurrently with the playing of said song, said broadcast encoder being electronically coupled to said radio station's transmitter and suitably encoding said metadata for broadcast transmission, said broadcast encoder submitting said encoded metadata to said radio station's broadcast transmission systems for broadcasting said metadata over the air, wherein compatible radio receivers tuned to said radio station receive said metadata in conjunction with the audio from said radio station, and are thus enabled to display the artist and title of the song being played. 
     
     
         7 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 5  wherein said radio station simulcasts said broadcast audio on the Internet for reception by Internet media players, further comprising a routine for said computer system of said radio station to submit said received metadata to an electronically coupled co-located digital encoder concurrently with the playing of said song, said digital encoder suitably encoding said metadata and transmitting said encoded metadata on the Internet for simultaneous reception with said simulcast audio by said Internet media players, said media players thus being enabled to display the artist and title of a song as it is being played. 
     
     
         8 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 5  further comprising a routine of said computer system of said radio station to send an identification of said radio station to said acoustic fingerprinting system via the Internet in conjunction with sending a representation of said audio content for the provision of metadata identification. 
     
     
         9 . A system for a radio station to obtain metadata identification from an acoustic fingerprinting system of songs and other audio content currently playing by said radio station, comprising:
 a. a computer system at a radio station, said computer system co-located with said radio station's broadcast systems and electronically coupled to an audio source of said radio station, said audio source providing said computer system with the audio content currently being played and broadcast by said radio station;   b. said computer system optionally configured to receive obtain metadata associated with said audio content from said radio station's broadcast systems;   c. said computer system optionally configured to obtain fingerprints of said audio content from said radio station's broadcast systems;   d. said computer system configured to send a representation of said audio content to an acoustic fingerprinting system via the Internet for the provision of metadata identification of said audio content, said representation comprising at least one of the following:
 i. an audio sample comprising a portion up to the entirety of said audio content; 
 ii. an acoustic fingerprint of said audio content; 
 iii. metadata describing said audio content; and, 
   e. said computer server of said radio station configured to receive said metadata identification of said audio content from said acoustic fingerprinting system via the Internet, said metadata of a song recognized within said audio content by said acoustic fingerprinting system to include the artist and tile of the song.   
     
     
         10 . A system as described in  claim 9  wherein said computer server of said radio station is configured to submit said received metadata to a broadcast encoder concurrently with the playing of said song, said broadcast encoder being electronically coupled to said radio station's transmitter and suitably encoding said metadata for broadcast transmission, said broadcast encoder submitting said encoded metadata to said radio station's broadcast transmission systems for broadcasting said metadata over the air, wherein compatible radio receivers tuned to said radio station receive said metadata in conjunction with the audio from said radio station, and are thus enabled to display the artist and title of the song being played. 
     
     
         11 . A system as described in  claim 9  wherein said radio station simulcasts said broadcast audio on the Internet for reception by Internet media players, further comprising said computer server of said radio station being configured to submit said received metadata to an electronically coupled co-located digital encoder concurrently with the playing of said song, said digital encoder suitably encoding said metadata and transmitting said encoded metadata on the Internet for simultaneous reception with said simulcast audio by said Internet media players, said media players thus being enabled to display the artist and title of a song as it is being played. 
     
     
         12 . A system as described in  claim 9  wherein said computer server is further configured to send an identifier of said radio station to said acoustic fingerprinting system via the Internet in conjunction with sending a representation of said audio content for the provision of metadata identification.