Tribune Buys Sony's Music Data Firm Gracenote

Media firm The Tribune Company has entered into an agreement with Sony Corporation of America to acquire music data provider Gracenote, which offers metadata for more than 180 million tracks. The deal is valued at $170m and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014.

Gracenote creates and analyzes billions of data points every day, and its database gets 550 million 'look-ups' daily and more than 16 billion every month. Clients use this data to drive customers to their content and in return, gather information about what those customers are consuming. The company also provides data and information for one million movies and TV shows, analyzing viewers' habits to deliver more relevant ads.

Gracenote employs more than 350 staff at its headquarters in Emeryville, California, and offices in Tokyo, Munich, Berlin, Seoul and Taipei. It will now be combined with Tribune Media Services (TMS), which collects and syndicates entertainment data and supplies information via TV, online and print.

Stephen White (pictured), President of Gracenote, comments: 'Given the breadth of the Tribune Company and its commitment to revolutionizing digital media, I firmly believe that we have found the right home to grow our business and realize our long-term vision. The marriage of these world-class music and video data platforms, from TMS and Gracenote, will help us reimagine how people discover and connect with music, movies and TV shows across all devices.'

Web sites: www.tribunemediaservices.com , www.sony.com and www.gracenote.com .