How do I update Gracenote?

Does anybody know where to download a new Gracenote database. I know how to update entune once I can find it, but I cant find it.
Thanks

 

Couldn't figure that out either but maybe I can help with other update:

Entune 3.1.0/3.2.0 update how to and download link

 

Still trying to figure out what Gracenote is? Every now and then, and icon or logo comes up on the Entune screen but I have no idea what it is.

 

I googled it, it had something to do with music recognition and it keeps some sort of a database. Guessing this is how entune knows which type of music or station it is????

 

Gracenote is the thing that matches your songs with little album art and downloads it to your head unit from the internet.... The problem is that it mostly works with commercial music and I listen to underground house, dnb and reggae, so the art it downloads is completely off most of the time. It's rather useless if you ask me. I'd prefer it pulled album art that I set on my songs myself, but it does not do it over bluetooth.

I guess Toyota is supposed to post something on their site if there is something for you to download.



http://www.gracenote.com/music/recognition/

 

The type of music/track name/etc. is picked up via RDS (radio data system) or the HD radio signal. They transmit little bits of data over the FM airwaves. More here if you want to read up on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Data_System

The Gracenote DB, as far as I can tell, is the internal database of album art. It'll display the album cover if it's available, otherwise it'll display a photo of the artist/band. If it doesn't have either of those, it'll just display the generic icon.

With that said, I too would like to update the Gracenote DB. Toyota is the only brand that is hard to update, from what I can tell. According to the Gracenote site, they provide DB updates to all the other brands that incorporate it. Toyota is the only one that doesn't allow it and makes you come into the dealership for updates, or for those of us who are willing to do it unofficially.

I think it's stupid Toyota decided to go that route. Maybe for updating Entune itself it makes sense, but not just the Gracenote DB.

 

This guy i know is an automotive designer. He has been designing cars for may years and I asked him why OEM car electronics are 5 years too late to the market.

He told me that the logic behind this that you don't jump on latest and greatest. You wait for 5 years and see what gets the widest adoption in the
"real world" and then you stick it into a car.

As far as updates go, everything is targeted to the lowest common denominator - people who can fuck things up. Manufacturers are trying to minimize the possibility of a user error. I am coming from 3 BMWs. Their headunits are way more restricted than Entune, that's for sure.

 

Well yeah, I understand the waiting part. Don't want to slap something brand new in there and end up having it be a flop.

And yeah, you're right, the general public is usually stupid. But something as simple as a Gracenote DB update... I think there should be an option for the user to do it. I'm sure the DB is updated quite often, since new albums are constantly released.

Looking at the Gracenote site here: http://www.gracenote.com/company/faq/consumer/ , it looks like nearly every manufacturer except Toyota provides a way for the user to update the DB.

But I definitely understand not letting users update the actual Entune software itself. Looking at the steps it takes to do the update, it'd be very easy for a person to screw it up.

Just my two cents

 

But what exactly are you trying to get out of it? More images? Higher image quality? I mean, even if you can update it more often, the updates are not going to do anything revolutionary to your Entune. If you want some real head unit excitement, there is always Alpine X009, but Toyota has always been rather conservative with everything.

http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/x009-u

 

It'd be nice to do Entune updates myself instead of having to go to the dealer, but that's not a big deal.

I'd just like to be able to easily update Gracenote at will to keep images updated. I listen to Spotify and Pandora a lot, and it's missing not only a lot of album art, but a lot of placeholder Artist/Band photos as well, so I get a lot of blank placeholder icons.

Not a big deal, just a cosmetic feature.

Although what you linked looks very nice. Replacing the head unit was far down my list, but seeing that and that there's a module that exists that seems to integrate with all the steering wheel controls and such, it may move up my list. I'm not a huge fan of Entune, but I didn't hate it enough to lose the controls with a new head unit. If it has voice commands and stuff like Entune does (I love being able to say which satellite channel to tune to by name instead of messing with presets or trying to remember channel numbers), I'm pretty sold.

 

I agree, so far and it's just my opinion. All of the OEM's can learn from My Ford Touch. I loved that I could upload my own art work, photos and themes to the homescreen.

I've got the full Entune Premium get up in my Tacoma, and I'm not sure I'm really a fan at this point. I do like the JBL sound, it's equal or slightly better than Ford's Sony 700W setup.

 

gracenote used to be called "CDDB" back in the old days before it was commercialized.

 

I know this is an old thread but I would like to know if anyone has figured out how to update the database. I have a 2015 with the premium plus stereo. Most artists/groups that have released songs in the last year come up with a generic or incorrect image on the screen. I called Toyota for help and was told to just call the dealership. I talked to the service department writer and was told he had no idea how to update but there would be a cost. He transferred me to the parts department where I spoke to a guy who was nice but had never even heard of Gracenote. After some time the parts guy called me back and said he'd talked to everyone he could at the dealership and they thought the database should update on its own. His only suggestion was to plug my phone in to the USB port. I normally use Bluetooth but gave that a try. When playing music via the usb port from iPhone the correct images were displayed. When going back to Bluetooth back to generic or wrong image. The stereo OS is up-to-date.

 

I just so happen to have time to spare while waiting for my kiddo and thought I should update my entune. That took a while so I thought I'd update gracenote too while I was at it.

I couldn't figure it out so I thought I'd reach out to entune support just to check into it. This is how much Toyota supports entune...

 

I did an interwebs search and got this.

HOWEVER it's for the YARIS... so dunno

https://toyota-en-us.visteoninfotainment.com/how-to-update-gracenote