See also: Music | MusicBrainz
The FreeDB is an online database which maps a calculated ID for a CD in your computer to the relevant artist, album, track, etc. It is a free content database that is supported by its community of users. Anyone with a client that speaks the CDDB protocol (most ripper/encoders) can add information to the database.
This system is in contrast to Gracenote’s CDDB which was a community created database they later claimed ownership over. The FreeDB project was started in response to this debacle using an older published version of the original CDDB database.
Related Topics:
For more information see the FreeDB FAQ
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