Audio recognition company Gracenote has bought out Philips Electronics’ audio fingerprinting technology, that will allow it to launch mobile and online music recognition services, something it has been working on for some years now (in association with Philips too).
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Philips, however, has taken an equity position in Gracenote.
Gracenote also announced that it has raised $10.9 million in new VC funding from new and returning backers in a fifth round of funding, yielding a post-money valuation of about $121 million.
Gracenote is the company behind the CDDB—the original online database of music CDs. The sophisticated technology identifies songs within five seconds of starting to play—matching audio waves against a database of recorded audio. It’s used by Snocap to check legal sharing status and can be used to return data about songs on multiple devices.
Gracenote’s Mobile MusicID program already allows some users in other countries to order CDs or ringtone based on matching music via cell phones.
As part of the deal, Gracenote will gain early access to research on new audio and video technologies under development in Philips Research Labs.
Related:
—Philips and Gracenote Launch Music Recognition Service for Mobiles
—Gracenote: The House That Music Fans Built
—Gracenote Raises $13 Million
—NTT’s New Music Recognition System