Dumb question: how does Media Player get track info when you rip a CD?

[Orrex]

Is it sometimes stored right on the disc? What about on older discs? I bought Bowie's Hunky Dory in 1990, and the info appears just as quickly as for a disc purchased within the last year, so I conclude that it's pulling the data from somewhere.

I understand how it can get info on big-name music, but about 12 years ago a friend gave me a copy of a limited-run disc that she produced through some local studio. I've never seen it offered on any retail site, nor even on CD Baby or the like. In fact, AFAIK, it was only sold through one tiny distributor shortly after release, and that distributor doesn't even have a website any more (I infer that they've closed down).

But when I dropped the disc in my player, all of the track detail came up immediately.

Where does Media Player or any other auto-populating music player get the track info?


This is probably very simple, and I'm sure that I could Google it or ask Wiki, but where's the fun in that?

[JVS]

1. Sometimes it fucks up. That's annoying!

[Orrex]

2. Yeah, I've had that happen too

I had an early printing of a disc, while a later version included a bonus song for track 5. From that point on, "my" disc erroneously populated with the bonus track 5, thereby skewing the subsequent songs by one slot.

Annoying, indeed, since there didn't seem to be a way to protect that one album from the auto-update feature.

[JVS]

8. I've also seen misidentification of the album from compilations

[Starbucks Anarchist]

3. CDDB.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDDB

[Orrex]

4. See, you missed the part about "where's the fun in that?"

But thanks for the link!

[gmoney]

5. It's magic.

Black magic. Beware! Satanic messages embedded in the songs, too!

[rcrush]

6. Dont be silly

Its actually Jeff Goldblum.

[MilesColtrane]

7. Bill Gates breaks into your house at night, riffles through your CD collection, and...

...jots it all down on a Big Chief tablet.

[Dr. Strange]

9. Originally, when I read that, I though, "Hey! That's bullshit."

But then I pondered it further, and realized that MilesColtrane has never bullshitted me before. So kudos to Bill Gates.

[BlueJazz]

10. I believe the Info is in the Header,