Tribune has agreed to acquire Gracenote, the music data division of Sony, according to a statement issued by Tribune on Monday. The said deal is valued at $170 million.
The acquisition deal is expected to close before March 2014, after regulatory approvals. The transaction will merge the music metadata firm with Tribune Media Services (TMS), a TV show and movie data provider, wrote VenutreBeat.
Gracenote is aiming to venture into new areas that are closely aligned with TMS, including a technology that can identify movies and TV shows using an audio file. However, the music unit will continue to focus on the music industry, the report explained.
The tech of Gracenote can recognize around 180 million songs played on digital services or players such as Spotify, Xbox Music and iTunes. The firm also has an automotive app which is used by Toyota and Ford. This app includes a phonetic database made up of artist names. The app allows users to speak their music selection and the car will understand, the report detailed.
Sony originally purchased Gracenot five years ago for $260 million.
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