Where is bluetooth playing getting the artwork?

I've seen art work from XM radio stations. Sometimes they send a generic picture of someone singing, but other times the album art work. I think FM and AM have only text information that's been around for years. But maybe the HD radio, which we have, can receive data, don't know.

 

even my usb shows funky art sometimes.

 

Gracenote

 

It's a database pre-loaded into the head unit. This database is called "Gracenote". Their web site is Gracenote | A Nielsen Company if you wan't to know a little more about it.

 

There are a few sources for the pictures depending on what exactly you are listening too. This is definitively how the car chooses which picture to display.

HD radio(FM): can send picture from station, if not then it looks at internal grace note DB
Regular FM: always looks at grace note db
XM: Always sends artist picture, never looks at grace note DB
bluetooth: always looks at grace note DB, never gets from device
ipod/usb: gets from device, if no picture properly embedded in file metadata gets from grace note
CD: gets from CD if embedded in cd, otherwise grace note
Pandora/iheartradio/other entune audio: always gets from entune audio source app

It's easiest to look at grace note as the "backup method". If the source doesn't send it's own picture, it then looks at gracenote. Also grace note first looks for a matching Album, if it doesn't have that album artwork in it's database it falls back to Artist. It it doesn't have a matching artist it falls back to Generic Genre. If it doesn't have an image for your genre or a similar detected genre, you get a generic blank image.

Grace note is updatable, but astoundingly it is included in the ultra expensive navigation map updates. You cannot update grace note without updating maps, and vice versa. It is actually supplied as the same file! The gracenote/map update. Most dealerships aren't even aware that the map update contains the grace note update. Most other vehicle manufacturers provide free grace note updates that can be loaded over USB.

Just like the maps, they are already 2 years out of date when released brand new.

 

I have a Gen 3, so maybe it changed for Gen 4, but in Gen 3, the Gracenote update is described in T-SB-0108-15. The database is on the same USB stick at the dealer as the map update, but: "A Navigation Map Update is not required to complete the Gracenote® update."

The Gracenote update has to happen first, but they can stop there if you don't want the map update. There'd still be some charge for shop time, but only the map update involves a license purchase.

-Chap

 

When playing from my bluetooth, only seeing artwork when I'm in park. Is there a way to change this in the 2020 Prius?