An apparatus and a method are provided, which enable to perform an improved management processing based on an identifier information of a content on a server. The content providing server sets content-associated unique identifier information as property information that is a component of content-associated metadata, maintains the unique identifier information as content-associated metadata without changing the unique identifier information even if the logical/physical position of a content stored in the storage unit is changed, and maintains a setting value of unique identifier information, which is set associated with a received content, as metadata associated with the received content without changing the setting value of the unique identifier information. By this configuration, even if a content is moved between servers, a client can acquire the content based on the unique identifier.