Media monitoring, management and information system

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for monitoring transmissions of media content (such as audio and audiovisual content) in order to obtain independent and objective data regarding the use of specific media content recordings or works within the transmissions. Processing and reporting of such data is provided in various ways to serve a variety of business needs. Methods for employing content identification technology to efficiently and automatically obtain reliable, accurate, and precise monitoring data are also disclosed. Various information products and services based on such monitoring systems are proposed.

1 . A method, comprising:
 analyzing a content, using an extractor module, to determine whether the content comprises embedded identification information;   if the content comprises an embedded identification information,
 storing the embedded identification information in an embedder log; and 
   if the content does not comprise an embedded identification information,
 embedding a first identification information into the content. 
   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein:
 if the content comprises an embedded identification information,
 embedding additional identification information into the content; and 
 storing the additional embedded identification information in the embedder log. 
   
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising notifying a content owner associated with the embedded identification information. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the additional identification information is embedded into a different location than that of the embedded identification information. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the different location comprises a different temporal location within the content. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the different location comprises a different frequency domain location within the content. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the different location comprises a different spatial domain location within the content. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the additional identification information is embedded in a different watermark layer from that of the embedded identification information. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the new identification information is embedded in a real-time embedding mode. 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the new identification information is embedded in a file-mode embedding mode. 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first identification information enables identification of a date, a time, a location of reception, a duration, a quality, an origin and/or a method of transmission of the content. 
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first identification information is embedded in an audio portion of the content. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first identification information is stored in a new embedder log. 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the new embedder log includes further metadata comprising an embedder-generated information and user-generated information. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the embedder-generated information comprises a duration, a sampling rate, a number of channels and/or an energy profile associated with the content. 
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the user-generated information comprises a title, an owner and/or an industry code associated with the content. 
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein at least one of the embedded information and the additional embedded information identifies a type of the content selected from a group of content types consisting of:
 a prerecorded music,   a live music,   a radio program material,   a television program material, and   a broadcast advertisement.   
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the embedded information and the additional embedded information each enable identification of a different aspect of the content. 
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the different aspect is selected from a group consisting of:
 a source of the content,   a distribution path of the content, and   a copy control status of the content.   
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the content embedded with the first identification information through one or more transmission channels. 
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the one or more transmission channels comprise a broadcast terrestrial channel, an Internet channel, a broadcast cable channel or a broadcast satellite channel. 
   
   
       22 . A device, comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory including program code, wherein the program code, when executed by the processor, configures the device to:   analyze a content to determine whether the content comprises embedded identification information;   if the content comprises an embedded identification information,
 store the embedded identification information in an embedder log; and 
   if the content does not comprise an embedded identification information,
 embed a first identification information into the content. 
   
   
   
       23 . A computer program, embodied on a computer-readable medium, comprising:
 computer code for analyzing a content to determine whether the content comprises embedded identification information;   if the content comprises an embedded identification information,
 computer code for storing the embedded identification information in an embedder log; and 
   if the content does not comprise an embedded identification information,
 computer code for embedding a first identification information into the content.