Audio Fingerprinting – What, Why And How

An Audio fingerprint is a small digest of an audio file computed from its many attributes. Like fingerprints of human, the fingerprint of an audio file identifies an audio file in a database but does not allow retrieving any other characteristics of the files. The primary application of Audio fingerprinting is to label unlabeled audio regardless of the audio file format. Applications of Audio fingerprint include creating and indexing large audio library, the protection of author's copyrights within a Digital Right Management (DRM) system, automatic tagging of audio files and even using it for audio stegnography for a secure communication.