1. A method of identifying an audio content sample that originates from an actual broadcast, including: monitoring a plurality of broadcast stations, fingerprinting and saving the fingerprints of broadcast audio content in a database of unidentified broadcast content as it is received; accessing playlists, comprising portions of identified broadcast audio content from the plurality of monitored broadcast stations, and fingerprints corresponding to the identified broadcast audio content; receiving data representing sampled audio content from a portable device and searching for a match between fingerprints of the sampled audio content and the fingerprints corresponding to at least parts of multiple playlists, further including: upon finding a fingerprint match against the fingerprints corresponding to a particular playlist for a particular monitored broadcast station, reporting the particular monitored broadcast station as a source of the broadcast audio content, and a description of the broadcast audio content back to the portable device; and upon not finding a fingerprint match against the fingerprints corresponding to any of the multiple playlists, further searching for a match of the fingerprints of the sampled audio content, against at least one of: parts of the database of unidentified broadcast content from the monitored broadcast stations, to identify a source of the broadcast audio content; and a reference database of identified audio content not associated with a particular broadcast station, to identify the sampled audio content; and reporting back to the portable device at least one of the source of the broadcast audio content and the identity of the sampled audio content.
1. A method of identifying an audio content sample that originates from an actual broadcast, including: monitoring a plurality of broadcast stations, fingerprinting and saving the fingerprints of broadcast audio content in a database of unidentified broadcast content as it is received; accessing playlists, comprising portions of identified broadcast audio content from the plurality of monitored broadcast stations, and fingerprints corresponding to the identified broadcast audio content; receiving data representing sampled audio content from a portable device and searching for a match between fingerprints of the sampled audio content and the fingerprints corresponding to at least parts of multiple playlists, further including: upon finding a fingerprint match against the fingerprints corresponding to a particular playlist for a particular monitored broadcast station, reporting the particular monitored broadcast station as a source of the broadcast audio content, and a description of the broadcast audio content back to the portable device; and upon not finding a fingerprint match against the fingerprints corresponding to any of the multiple playlists, further searching for a match of the fingerprints of the sampled audio content, against at least one of: parts of the database of unidentified broadcast content from the monitored broadcast stations, to identify a source of the broadcast audio content; and a reference database of identified audio content not associated with a particular broadcast station, to identify the sampled audio content; and reporting back to the portable device at least one of the source of the broadcast audio content and the identity of the sampled audio content. 5. The method of claim 1 , further including: saving playlists of the broadcast audio content from the monitored broadcast stations; and sending the portable device at least a recent portion of a playlist that identifies a plurality of recent items broadcast by a monitored broadcast station source.