Sony Corp. of America To Acquire Gracenote
April 22, 2008
- Digital and Mobile
By Antony Bruno, Denver
Sony Corp. of America is acquiring music identification and technology firm Gracenote for $260 million. The merger is expected to close in late May.
Gracenote is perhaps best known to the music industry for its music recognition and lyrics services. The company provides several digital music services with the technology and database needed to import song title and artist information when burning CDs into their digital jukeboxes, including iTunes and Yahoo Music.
It also has several music ID services offered through home and car audio products from Alpine, Panasonic, Philips and Sony, as well as mobile music providers like Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Japan’s KDDI and Musiwave.
Finally, it has compiled a searchable database of licensed lyrics that powers the only authorized online lyrics services for Yahoo Music and others.
Sony Corp. says Gracenote will continue to operate independently as a Sony subsidiary, and draw on its services to enhance its own digital content, services and products.
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