Patent ID: 8346789

Claim:
A method for processing metadata within a personal media device comprising: determining the presence of pre-existing metadata associated with a local media content file received at the personal media device from a media distribution system; determining at least one data field contained within the pre-existing metadata; generating a homogeneous metadata file for the local media content file by mapping data contained within the at least one data field of the pre-existing metadata into at least one defined data field of the homogeneous metadata file; comparing a label associated with the at least one data field of the pre-existing metadata to a label of at least one defined data field of the homogeneous metadata file, wherein comparing includes determining a match between the label associated with the at least one data field of the pre-existing metadata and the label of at least one defined data field of the homogeneous metadata file based on one or more synonyms of the label associated with the at least one data field of the pre-existing metadata; and generating a unique identifier of the homogeneous metadata file; assigning the unique identifier to the homogeneous metadata file to associate the homogeneous metadata file with the local media content file on the personal media device; and using at least a portion of the homogeneous metadata file to perform one or more operations chosen from a group consisting of: generating a library file identifying one or more a first media content file and a second media content file; rendering information indicative of at least a portion of the homogeneous metadata file in a format discernible by a user; generating a playlist file identifying one or more of the first and second media content files; and providing an indication to a server indicative of the rendering of one or more of the first and second media content files.