What is the metadata meaning? We have discussed metadata and its essential role in media asset management several times in our blogs now. We feel it's time to answer the question about why metadata is important. In the following lines, we'll try to answer that question and spotlight its importance on MAM Systems like VSNExplorer MAM.
Metadata is the master key for every media preservation solution. They allow the system to locate and search for media assets. Its extraction, processing and optimization mark the performance of our media asset management software.
Metadata explanation: Data inside data
Metadata is data that describes other data. Ok, it sounds a bit tricky so let's step back to find the real meaning of metadata. Metadata is just information about any other element. For example, when you take a picture with your phone, the time, location and resolution information that appears on the gallery when you see it is metadata. Therefore, we are talking about information and data about your picture.
So, the solution is very simple. Metadata is the complementary information related to any other element.
Metadata's meaning
Metadata's meaning is straightforward once you understand it, but we decided to visit other definitions to bring some more light to the concept. The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) explains metadata as structured data that includes data associated with information about a system or object for the purpose of providing a description. Although all definitions are similar at one or more points, it seems clear that metadata is an important component to help us locate, classify, and understand the objects-whether physical or non-physical-that they are attached to.
When was metadata invented?
It is natural that in the information era, we have concluded that it is essential to have data that allows us to identify, locate and recover any object. However, the pioneers in content preservation were old librarians. They understood the metadata meaning before anyone else.
Already in Ancient Egypt (280 BC), the Great Library of Alexandria offered all its scrolls with a small label attached to each one. They contained the title, subject, and author of the work, allowing readers to locate their search more easily and librarians to organize the catalog without wasting hours of work in the process. These labels would later become bibliographic records, and their digital version would be mentioned for the first time by two MIT engineers in a report entitled ADMINS, where they mention the need to maintain a record (metadata) of the data records'.
Metadata & Video: Why is metadata important?
If we take a step forward into the 21st Century, we will see how any digital element we use in our daily activity contains metadata. Of course, video is not an exception. In this audiovisual content era, this format is essential for different businesses like the educational or the corporate sector. Therefore, metadata on media assets is more critical than ever to avoid chaos in the archives. Thanks to them, we can order and preserve our media assets efficiently.
Metadata: A useful tool
Ok, we already know the meaning of metadata, but why is metadata important? What role does metadata play in a MAM System? For software like VSNExplorer MAM, the metadata of media assets is the key to order and catalog our archive. With this information, the system searches and locates quickly and efficiently the file we are looking for when we search in our archive.
The more metadata on our media, the more information VSNExplorer MAM will have to correctly catalog it. If we go back for a moment to the origins of metadata, a MAM System is like a librarian. It creates the index tags, completes the information, catalogs and manages the archive to find the media. All this with the metadata as the core of the solution.
How to extract metadata from media
The meaning of metadata is now clear and so is why metadata is important. However, we didn't talk about how to extract this gold from a video file. We must have the maximum amount of information about our files for its catalog. Metadata like title, description, the video date, the characters that appear or text transcription are the key.
Logically, the more efficient way to extract metadata is automation via cutting-edge technology like artificial intelligence. A good example is RTVE's project for content catalog of its Archive using VSNExplorer MAM. Thanks to the integration of this system with AI search engines, our MAM system extracts all this information for validation on a single interface.
How to manage metadata
However, metadata extraction is just the first step. For a MAM System it's essential to manage this information and customize the data treatment for each user. In this article, we explained how the metadata rules editor of VSNExplorer enables that feature. Using a simple programming language, our clients can create and manage thousands of data operations thanks to this tool.
Now that we control metadata and why it's important, don't lose the chance to squeeze out all its potential with VSNExplorer MAM. Do not hesitate to contact us and book your demo with our professionals to discover how we can help you with your media asset management.
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
What is the metadata meaning? We have discussed metadata and its essential role in media asset management several times in our blogs now. We feel it's time to answer the question about why metadata is important. In the following lines, we'll try to answer that question and spotlight its importance on MAM Systems like VSNExplorer MAM. 
