Patent ID: 7313591

Claim:
A method of retrieving metadata for a media file accessible via a media player, said metadata including property data associated with the media file, comprising: determining that the media file is accessed by the media player; determining whether an identification parameter is stored on the media player; determining whether property data is stored on the media player; determining whether an artist ID is a known various artists value on the media player, said known various artists value indicating the media file is associated with a compilation of artists; submitting, to a server, an identification parameter associated with the accessed media, said submitting being responsive to the media file being accessed by the media player and occurring after determining whether the identification parameter and the property data are stored on the media player and after determining whether the artist ID is a known various artists value; receiving from the server the property data corresponding to the accessed media file; and caching the received property data with a collection ID in response to the identification parameter being stored on the media player, the property data being stored on the media player, and the artist ID being a known various artists value on the media player.