An interactive communication system including a web-based content brokerage engine for the matching of meta data to audio content and audio+video content, for the encoding of such meta data into the audio-band or video-band channel of the specified audio content and audio+video content with such resulting encoded content being capable of further dissemination through any traditional distribution system. Following such dissemination, the encoded content is played on a playback console, such as a radio, television, or related peripheral content playback device. A device connected to or incorporated within the playback console, both extracts the encoded meta data from the encoded content and transmits the resulting decoded meta data and related information via an attached short-range wireless transceiver to a target device (e.g. a short-range wireless enabled cellular phone). Thereafter, the user's target device allows the user to view relevant portions of the relayed data package as a textual message on the display of the target device, and respond to this message by submitting a user response via the target device keypad. The target device sends a textual message response (incorporating the user response and associated data) via the target device's wireless network's short message service (or equivalent) to an entity, such as the interactive communication system operator, which may thereafter act upon the textual message response so received. A further act of the entity could involve the entity auditing, storing, and analyzing the data relating to the textual message response, forwarding data related to the textual message response to an appropriate further entity, or initiating a subsequent communication back toward the user of the short-range wireless enabled cellular phone, or any combination thereof. The content brokerage engine can also be used for the matching of content and meta data in communication systems distinct from and separate to the interactive communication system.