There are couple of reasons why we choose FreeDB.

First, Gracenote requires a fee after the number of users exceeds certain limit. The fee is large and is generally not affordable for shareware authors.

Second, to use CDDB in our application, we have to sign an agreement which prevents us from using any kind of online data lookup but CDDB. I wonder if a simple web search would violate this agreement

Third, after the CDDB sued Roxio for their escape to FreeDB, it seems not safe to be bound by such agreement.

Their source of information might be superior, but it's still not worth losing the freedom of choice.

Andrei