1. A computerized system for representing digital media using both a bit stream and an associated metadata, said system comprising: a codec configured to encode the digital media to the bit stream, said codec being further configured to generate a metadata representation stream of the bit stream that encapsulates information embedded in the bit stream and at least one type of media-related information; and a manager configured to assure synchronization between the bit stream and the metadata representation stream during streaming of the bit stream and the metadata representation stream, wherein the manager comprises a plurality of application program interfaces (APIs) that are called to respond differently to different types of requests received from one or more applications.