Abstract: Providing standardized metadata associated with media content responsive to input metadata. The invention extracts one or more tokens from the input metadata. Each of the extracted tokens represents a portion of the input metadata. The invention creates a token group comprising a plurality of selected tokens. The invention searches the database of standardized metadata using a multi-pass approach using the token group and the extracted tokens to identify the standardized metadata associated with the input metadata.

Abstract: Methods providing clients with a full contextual metadata experience. Metadata include multiple forms of property data, or information, relating to media accessed by a media player, such as a CD in a CD-ROM drive of a computer. Metadata is transferred from a server to a client. Identification parameters associated with the accessed media file are submitted by the client to a server, and property data is retrieved and forwarded to the client. The metadata provides the user with integrated, contemporaneous property data directly related to the media file being played, providing automatic, integrated access to data from multiple databases, simply by accessing a related media file through a media player, without further direction from the user.

Abstract: Methods, computer readable mediums and systems provide media player users with a full contextual metadata experience. Metadata include multiple forms of property data, or information, relating to media accessed by a media player, such as a CD in a CD-ROM drive of a computer. Metadata is transferred from a server to a client. Identification parameters associated with the accessed media file are submitted by the client to a server, and property data is retrieved and forwarded to the client. The metadata provides the user with integrated, contemporaneous property data directly related to the media file being played, providing automatic, integrated access to data from multiple databases, simply by accessing a related media file through a media player, without further direction from the user.

Abstract: A media identifier registry for managing metadata records. The registry stores a unique logical identifier for each of the records as well as a base type corresponding to each of the logical identifiers. The base types are representative of the information contained in the respective metadata records for the corresponding logical identifiers. The registry further defines associations between the logical identifiers and base types. Improvements in identifying media content and related information according to the invention permit building a media data warehouse capable of aggregating data from many different sources, uniquely identify the same piece of content from different data providers, in different cultures, and in different physical forms to allow a consistent set of data to be stored and retrieved.

Abstract: Systems and methods for data publishing. A back end server collects source data and generates a current publication database from the collected source data. The back end database server also copies the current publication database to an offline database. A front end server directs queries to an online database. After the current publication database is copied to the offline database, the front end server alternates the online and offline databases so that the offline database becomes online for data delivery and the online database becomes offline to prevent data delivery. An automation control database managed by the back end server contains job control data for instructing the front end server which of the associated databases is online and which of the associated databases is offline.

Abstract: A media identifier registry for managing metadata records. The registry stores a unique logical identifier for each of the records as well as a base type corresponding to each of the logical identifiers. The base types are representative of the information contained in the respective metadata records for the corresponding logical identifiers. The registry further defines associations between the logical identifiers and base types. Improvements in identifying media content and related information according to the invention permit building a media data warehouse capable of aggregating data from many different sources, uniquely identify the same piece of content from different data providers, in different cultures, and in different physical forms to allow a consistent set of data to be stored and retrieved.

Abstract: Obtaining metadata for media content. Software according to the invention requests the metadata via a metadata query data structure (MDQ) such as a uniform resource locator and receives metadata in response via a metadata return data structure (MDR). The invention includes namespace identifiers such as WMContentID, WMCollectionID, and WMCollectionGroupID for instance-specific associations between media content and metadata. The invention also includes namespace identifiers such as WMPrimaryClassID and WMSecondaryClassID to classify the media content.

Abstract: Systems and methods for data publishing. A back end server collects source data and generates a current publication database from the collected source data. The back end database server also copies the current publication database to an offline database. A front end server directs queries to an online database. After the current publication database is copied to the offline database, the front end server alternates the online and offline databases so that the offline database becomes online for data delivery and the online database becomes offline to prevent data delivery. An automation control database managed by the back end server contains job control data for instructing the front end server which of the associated databases is online and which of the associated databases is offline.

Abstract: System and methods for processing user feedback data corresponding to digital media files. Client computers execute a media player program for rendering media files to their users. A server receives user-provided data entries relating to content of the media files and performs per field conflict resolution to determine relationships between the entries. Based on the relationships, the server aggregates the data entries and then defines new metadata records from the aggregated data for publishing to the users. The invention is directed to a user feedback data schema.