CDDB ( eng. Compact disc database ) is a centralized database of music CDs available over the Internet . The client program calculates the identifier of the CD and queries the database. The probability of matching identifiers for different drives is very small. The database contains information about the artist, song titles, year of release, etc.
Initially, the CDDB database was free and updated by volunteers, but then the licensing terms were changed. The database is now owned by Gracenote . The company has set limits that many [by whom? ] are considered unacceptable. This led to the creation of an alternative free freedb service using the same principles as the original CDDB. There are other databases (both free and commercial) that provide similar information about CDs. Often the term CDDB is used to refer to all such services.
Technical Information
To identify a CD, an identifier (the so-called disc ID) is used, which is calculated on the basis of information about the duration of the tracks (tracks) recorded on the disc. The client program receives this information from the table of contents — a special area of data on the disk. The identifier is used to find information in the database about the disc and the tracks recorded on it.
Thus, the database stores information about the entire disc, and not about individual songs. If, for example, you record a new disc, rearranging some tracks, or adding new ones, then information about it will not be found, despite the fact that the database contains information about the same songs recorded on other discs.
On the other hand, there is a possibility, albeit small, that two different disks will have the same identifier ( collision ).
See also
- Musicbrainz
- AMG LASSO