A system and methods for the creation, management, and distribution of media entity fingerprinting are provided. In connection with a system that convergently merges perceptual and digital signal processing analysis of media entities for purposes of classifying the media entities, various means are provided to a user for automatically processing fingerprints for media entities for distribution to participating users. Techniques for providing efficient calculation and distribution of fingerprints for use in satisfying copyright regulations and in facilitating the association of meta data to media entities are included. In an illustrative implementation, the fingerprints may be generated and stored allowing for persistence of media from experience to experience.