Freedb
Encyclopedia
freedb is a database
of compact disc
track listings, where all the content is under the GNU General Public License
. It was originally based on the now-proprietary
CDDB
(compact disc database). As of April 24, 2006, the database holds just under 2,000,000 CDs. To look up CD information over the Internet
, a client program calculates a hash function
from the CD table of contents and uses it as a disc ID to query the database. If the disc is in the database, the client is able to retrieve and display the artist, album title, tracklist and some additional information.
On July 1, 2006, two of the main freedb developers resigned. Although this caused worry over the future of the project, it was announced on July 7, 2006 that plans were in place that would most likely find freedb a new home and it would continue its operation as normal.
On October 4, 2006, freedb owner Michael Kaiser announced that Magix
had acquired freedb. On June 25, 2007, MusicBrainz
— a project with similar goals — officially released their freedb gateway. The latter allows users to harvest information from the MusicBrainz
database rather than freedb.
was released under the GNU General Public License, and many people submitted CD information thinking the service would also remain free. The license was later changed, however, and some programmers complained that the new license included certain terms that they couldn't accept: if one wanted to access CDDB, one was not allowed to access any other CDDB-like database (such as freedb), and any programs using a CDDB lookup had to display a CDDB logo while performing the lookup.
In March 2001, CDDB, now owned by Gracenote
, banned all unlicensed applications from accessing their database. New licenses for CDDB1 (the original version of CDDB) were no longer available, since Gracenote wanted to force programmers to switch to CDDB2 (a new version incompatible with CDDB1 and hence with freedb). The license change motivated the freedb project, which is intended to remain free.
freedb is used primarily by media players, cataloguers, audio taggers and CD ripper
software. As of version 6 of the freedb protocol, freedb accepts and returns UTF-8
data.
Database
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
of compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
track listings, where all the content is under the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
. It was originally based on the now-proprietary
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
CDDB
CDDB
CDDB, short for Compact Disc Database, is a database for software applications to look up audio CD information over the Internet. This is performed by a client which calculates a unique disc ID and then queries the database. As a result, the client is able to display the artist name, CD title,...
(compact disc database). As of April 24, 2006, the database holds just under 2,000,000 CDs. To look up CD information over the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, a client program calculates a hash function
Hash function
A hash function is any algorithm or subroutine that maps large data sets to smaller data sets, called keys. For example, a single integer can serve as an index to an array...
from the CD table of contents and uses it as a disc ID to query the database. If the disc is in the database, the client is able to retrieve and display the artist, album title, tracklist and some additional information.
On July 1, 2006, two of the main freedb developers resigned. Although this caused worry over the future of the project, it was announced on July 7, 2006 that plans were in place that would most likely find freedb a new home and it would continue its operation as normal.
On October 4, 2006, freedb owner Michael Kaiser announced that Magix
MAGIX
MAGIX AG is an international provider of software, online services and digital contents for multimedia communications based in Berlin, Germany. The Company also operates from branches in the USA, Canada, the UK, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands...
had acquired freedb. On June 25, 2007, MusicBrainz
MusicBrainz
MusicBrainz is a project that aims to create an open content music database. Similar to the freedb project, it was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the CDDB...
— a project with similar goals — officially released their freedb gateway. The latter allows users to harvest information from the MusicBrainz
MusicBrainz
MusicBrainz is a project that aims to create an open content music database. Similar to the freedb project, it was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the CDDB...
database rather than freedb.
Motivation
The original software behind CDDBCDDB
CDDB, short for Compact Disc Database, is a database for software applications to look up audio CD information over the Internet. This is performed by a client which calculates a unique disc ID and then queries the database. As a result, the client is able to display the artist name, CD title,...
was released under the GNU General Public License, and many people submitted CD information thinking the service would also remain free. The license was later changed, however, and some programmers complained that the new license included certain terms that they couldn't accept: if one wanted to access CDDB, one was not allowed to access any other CDDB-like database (such as freedb), and any programs using a CDDB lookup had to display a CDDB logo while performing the lookup.
In March 2001, CDDB, now owned by Gracenote
Gracenote
Gracenote, Inc., formerly called CDDB , is a company that maintains and licenses an Internet-accessible database containing information about the contents of audio compact discs and vinyl records. It provides software and metadata to businesses that enable their customers to manage and search...
, banned all unlicensed applications from accessing their database. New licenses for CDDB1 (the original version of CDDB) were no longer available, since Gracenote wanted to force programmers to switch to CDDB2 (a new version incompatible with CDDB1 and hence with freedb). The license change motivated the freedb project, which is intended to remain free.
freedb is used primarily by media players, cataloguers, audio taggers and CD ripper
CD ripper
A CD ripper, CD grabber or CD extractor is software that convert tracks on a CD to standard computer sound files, such as WAV, MP3, or Ogg Vorbis.It rips raw digital audio in CDDA format on a compact disc to a file or other output.- History :...
software. As of version 6 of the freedb protocol, freedb accepts and returns UTF-8
UTF-8
UTF-8 is a multibyte character encoding for Unicode. Like UTF-16 and UTF-32, UTF-8 can represent every character in the Unicode character set. Unlike them, it is backward-compatible with ASCII and avoids the complications of endianness and byte order marks...
data.