Audio CD Basics Lesson 7: Submit Your CD To Gracenote This tutorial is for itunes version 11 or newer. If you re using an older version of itunes, please refer to our other white paper. By looking at the icon located in your taskbar or dock, you can easily tell which version of itunes you re using. WHAT IS GRACENOTE? Gracenote is a universally-recognized, easy-to-use, online database that contains artist, album, track, year, and genre information for standard audio CD s. Once the information for your CD has been submitted to Gracenote, the data will be available to anyone who has a copy of the same CD and is using Gracenote-compatible software. Submitting your CD to Gracenote before it hits the market is fast, easy, and free, and ensures that your customers don t get confused by incomplete or incorrect track listing information.! 1
HOW DOES GRACENOTE WORK? Gracenote identifies CD s by using a unique fingerprint ID for each disc, which is calculated from the exact number and length of the audio tracks on the disc. When CD playback software that supports Gracenote loads an audio CD, it calculates the fingerprint ID, sends it to the Gracenote server, and then downloads and auto-populates the corresponding information for that CD. If no information exists in their database for a specific fingerprint, nothing will happen, and the tracks will continue to be displayed as Track 1, Track 2, etcetera. If there is no exact match, but there is a similar match, then Gracenote may get confused, and download and populate incorrect information. This is why it's so important to make sure you, as the content producer, have already submitted your tracks to Gracenote before your CD is on the market. HOW DO I SUBMIT MY CD? Since Gracenote uses a fingerprint ID that s based off the format of your CD for identification, you need to use an actual physical CD to submit your tracks, not just MP3 s or other audio files you have saved on your computer. We have other instructional videos available on our website that show how to burn a standard audio CD if you don t already know how to do that. Once you have successfully burned! 2
your audio CD, insert it into your computer. A dialog box may popup asking you if you want to import the CD. If so, simply select No. Make sure that your CD is the currently selected source by choosing it from the source drop-down list. Alternatively, if you have itunes configured to display the sidebar, you ll want to make sure that Audio CD under the Devices s e c t i o n i s highlighted. With your CD selected, you'll need to manually edit the album, artist, genre, and track name information for your CD. Click the CD Info button to edit the artist, album, genre, and year fields. Click OK once you re done. Next, right-click on a song, and select the Get Info option from the contextual menu. Then select the Info tab to view and edit the track information. You can click the Next and Previous buttons to jump to the other tracks on the CD. When you're all done, click OK. When naming your songs, avoid using any obscure characters, since they can cause playback and compatibility issues. Try to stick with letters, numbers, spaces, and common symbols. Once you've got everything edited correctly, click on the Options button and select Submit CD Track Names. As long as you're connected to the internet, itunes will submit your information to the Gracenote database.! 3
HOW CAN I VERIFY THAT IT WORKED? Once you see the dialog box that says: "The CD information was successfully sent to the Gracenote service" you re all done and can eject the disc. It can take up to three days after you submit your CD for it to show up on the Gracenote service. Wait for three days, and then place the CD back in your computer, make sure it s selected as the source, go to Options, and click Get CD Track Names. This will clear any local cache you may have for the disc and attempt to download the CD information form the Gracenote server. If itunes downloads and populates your CD with the correct information, then you have successfully verified that everything is working correctly with your new Gracenote submission. Eject the CD and mail it in to Vervanté. In order to ensure that Gracenote functions correctly for all of your customers, we need the same disc that you used for submission. Once we receive this disc from you we will use it as the CD Master for processing and fulfilling your orders. Alternatively, if you prefer to send us your digital audio files electronically rather than mailing us a disc, you can do that instead. Once you ve sent us your files, order a copy of your CD from Vervante. Once it arrives, use that disc to follow the same steps! 4
we ve outlined for you re Gracenote submission. Once you ve verified it has been submitted correctly, you re all done! That s all there is to it! If you have any additional questions or concerns about Gracenote, visit their frequently asked questions page on their website at http://www.gracenote.com/company/faq/ owner or email them directly. And don t hesitate to reach out to the friendly staff at Vervanté. We re here for you every step of the way, and we re happy to assist as you prepare your digital product for sale and fulfillment.! 5