Album Cover Art

[John]

Hello.

I just wondered how programs that play audio CDs on your computer work
as far as obtaining the cover art for albums is concerned?

For example, Windows Media Player seems to download it from the MSN
Music site for one of my CDs.

How do other programs search for album cover art for CDs? And also,
how do you submit album cover art for a CD? What
services/organisations can you submit the album art to? Are there any
programs for doing this? It would be useful if you have some CDs
where the art is not downloaded that you wish to be displayed on
screen. It would also be good if you have made your own mix-CD or
compilation for your own productions, to submit your own artwork so it
is associated with the CD you produced.

I would really love to know how a program on your computer knows what
album art is supposed to go with an audio CD? I thought that audio
CDs just contained text and audio info and nothing else? Is there a
hidden text field with a url to where the cover art is located on the
internet?

Thanks very much for any help on this

John

[Luca]

John wrote:

For instance:
http://www.gracenote.com/gn_products/cddb.html
or: http://www.freedb.org/

Luca