EFFICIENT MULTIPLE IDENTITY SYSTEM FOR MEDIA FILES

A client node comprising:a database with a plurality of media content data files;a database with local identification data and metadata both associated with the plurality of media content data files; andconfigured to perform:selecting a media content data file stored in a media content data source;receiving only a first set of metadata associated with the selected media content data file from the media content data source;providing the first set of metadata to a server node;receiving, from a server node including a database comprising a plurality of master identifiers, each master identifier corresponding to one or more sets of metadata each associated with a corresponding media content data file, a first master identifier corresponding to the first set of metadata; andacquiring the media content data of the selected media content data file in response to determining that the first master identifier is not already stored in the database of local identification data and metadata.