Methods and systems for per persona processing media content-associated metadata

• US 20030182100A1
• Filed: 03/21/2002
• Published: 09/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Alkove, James M., Debique, Kirt A., Plastina, Daniel, Colville, Scott, Mazhar, Khurshed
• Granted Patent: US 7,220,910 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/437 Administration of user profiles, e.g. generation, initialisation, adaptation, distribution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/4387 by the use of playlists
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/0058 Transmission between separate instruments or between individual components of a musical system G10H1/0083 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2230/015 PDA [personal digital assistant] or palmtop computing devices used for musical purposes, e.g. portable music players, tablet computers, e-readers or smart phones in which mobile telephony functions need not be used
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/251 Mobile telephone transmission, i.e. transmitting, accessing or controlling music data wirelessly via a wireless or mobile telephone receiver, analogue or digital, e.g. DECT, GSM, UMTS
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4825 using a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlists
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4826 using recommendation lists, e.g. of programs or channels sorted out according to their score
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8106 involving special audio data, e.g. different tracks for different languages
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

Various systems and methods described above permit a user'"'"'s content experience (e.g. music playing experience) to be monitored and for metadata describing this experience to be collected. This metadata can be dynamically updated as a user experiences media content and then used to impart to the user a personalized experience that is tailored to that specific user. A user'"'"'s metadata can, in some instances, provided across a wide variety of computing devices on which the user may experience the media content, thus standardizing the user'"'"'s personalized media experience. In addition, intelligent or “smart” playlists can be provided which, in some instances, can be dynamically and automatically updated to reflect current user experiences, thus providing a highly personalized and enjoyable content experience.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

monitoring a user'"'"'s media content experience;

producing metadata associated with the user'"'"'s media content experience; and

associating produced metadata with media content experienced by the user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of producing is performed for each media content that the user experiences.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by monitoring the user'"'"'s media-playing experience.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of producing is performed locally on a user'"'"'s computing device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by monitoring the user'"'"'s music-playing experience.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the act of producing is performed for each song that a user plays.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a media-playing application configured to play media that the user can experience.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a computing device on which the user can experience the media.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of monitoring is performed relative to media content that is locally stored on a computing device and locally played on the computing device.

10. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by one or more computing devices, cause the devices to:

monitor a user'"'"'s media-playing experience;

produce metadata associated with the user'"'"'s media-playing experience; and

associate produced metadata with media content experienced by the user.

11. The computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the instructions cause the one or more computing devices to monitor a user'"'"'s music-playing experience.

12. The computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the instructions cause the one or more computing devices to monitor a user'"'"'s music-playing experience for each song that a user plays.

13. A computing device embodying the computer-readable media of claim 10.

14. A software application configured to:

monitor a user'"'"'s media content experience;

produce metadata associated with the user'"'"'s media content experience; and

associate produced metadata with media content experienced by the user.

15. The media-playing software application of claim 14, wherein the application monitors the user'"'"'s music-playing experience.

16. The media-playing software application of claim 14, wherein the application monitors the user'"'"'s music-playing experience for each song and produces and associates metadata for each song.

17. A method comprising:

monitoring a user'"'"'s media-playing experience, the media-playing experience being provided by a media-playing application that is configured to play media content on a computing device;

producing metadata associated with the user'"'"'s media-playing experience; and

associating produced metadata with media content experienced by the user by providing the metadata into a file that contains the media content experienced by the user.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by monitoring the user'"'"'s music-playing experience.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the act of producing is performed for each song that a user plays.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by the media-playing application.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a computing device on which the user can experience the media content.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the act of monitoring is performed relative to media content that is locally stored on a computing device and locally played on the computing device.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a first device on which the user can experience the media content, and further comprising:

updating metadata on at least a second device that can be used by the user to experience the media content by providing metadata from the first device to at least the second device.

24. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by one or more computing devices, cause the devices to:

monitor a user'"'"'s media-playing experience, the media-playing experience being provided by a media-playing application that is configured to play media content on a computing device;

produce metadata associated with the user'"'"'s media-playing experience; and

associate produced metadata with media content experienced by the user by providing the metadata into a file that contains the media content experienced by the user.

25. The computer-readable media of claim 24, wherein the instructions cause the one or more computing devices to monitor a user'"'"'s music-playing experience.

26. The computer-readable media of claim 24, wherein the instructions cause the one or more computing devices to monitor a user'"'"'s music-playing experience for each song that a user plays.

27. A computing device embodying the computer-readable media of claim 24.

28. A software application configured to:

monitor a user'"'"'s media-playing experience, the media-playing experience being provided by a media-playing application that is configured to play media content on a computing device;

produce metadata associated with the user'"'"'s media-playing experience; and

associate produced metadata with media content experienced by the user by providing the metadata into a file that contains the media content experienced by the user.

29. The software application of claim 28, wherein the application monitors the user'"'"'s music-playing experience.

30. The software application of claim 28, wherein the application monitors the user'"'"'s music-playing experience for each song, and produces and associates metadata for each song.

31. A method comprising:

playing media content using a media-playing application executing on a computing device;

responsive to said playing, monitoring a user'"'"'s media-playing experience;

producing metadata associated with the user'"'"'s media-playing experience; and

associating produced metadata with media content experienced by the user.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by monitoring the user'"'"'s music-playing experience.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by monitoring the user'"'"'s music-playing experience, and the act of producing is performed for each song that a user plays.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by the media-playing application.

35. The method of claim 31, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a computing device on which the user can experience the media.

36. The method of claim 31, wherein the act of monitoring is performed relative to media content that is locally stored on a computing device and locally played on the computing device.

37. The method of claim 31, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a first device on which the user can experience the media content and further comprising updating metadata on at least a second device that can be used by the user to experience the media content by providing metadata from the first device to at least the second device.

38. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by one or more computing devices, cause the devices to:

play media content using a media-playing application executing on a computing device;

responsive to playing the media content, monitor a user'"'"'s media-playing experience;

produce metadata associated with the user'"'"'s media-playing experience; and

associate produced metadata with media content experienced by the user.

39. The computer-readable media of claim 38, wherein the instructions cause the one or more computing devices to monitor a user'"'"'s music playing experience.

40. The computer-readable media of claim 38, wherein the instructions cause the one or more computing devices to monitor a user'"'"'s music playing experience for each song that a user plays.

41. A computing device embodying the computer-readable media of claim 38.

42. A media-playing software application configured to:

play media content using a media-playing application executing on a computing device;

responsive to playing the media content, monitor a user'"'"'s media-playing experience;

produce metadata associated with the user'"'"'s media-playing experience; and

associate produced metadata with media content experienced by the user.

43. The media-playing software application of claim 42, wherein the application monitors the user'"'"'s music playing experience.

44. The media-playing software application of claim 42, wherein the application monitors the user'"'"'s music playing experience for each song the user plays, and produces and associates metadata for each song.

45. A system comprising:

a database;

media content in the database that is playable by a media-playing application; and

metadata from one or more users associated with the media content in the database, the metadata being associated with a user'"'"'s media-playing experience.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein the media content comprises music content.

47. The system of claim 45, wherein the media content and the associated metadata comprise individual entries in the database.

48. The system of claim 45 further comprising means for updating the metadata associated with the media content responsive to a user experiencing the media content.

49. A computing device embodying the system of claim 45.

50. A method comprising:

monitoring a user'"'"'s media-playing experience by monitoring one or more parameters associated with the user'"'"'s experience, the parameters comprising at least a last played time associated with when a particular piece of content was played by the user;

producing metadata associated with the monitored parameter(s); and

associating produced metadata with media content experienced by the user.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein the one or more parameters comprise one or more of the following parameters:

an update time associated with when one or more other parameters are updated;

a user rating for allowing a user to rate content;

an effective rating that provides a rating for content that the user has not actually rated;

a service rating for providing a third party rating on content;

a playcount total comprising the total number of times a particular piece of content has been played; and

one or more custom parameters that can be programmed by the user.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein the one or more parameters further comprise a timestamp parameter associated with when the effective rating was provided.

53. The method of claim 50, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by monitoring the user'"'"'s music-playing experience.

54. The method of claim 50, wherein:

the act of monitoring is performed by monitoring the user'"'"'s music-playing experience; and

the act of producing is performed for each song that a user plays.

55. The method of claim 50, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a media-playing application configured to play media that the user can experience.

56. The method of claim 50, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a first device on which the user can experience the media content and further comprising updating metadata on at least a second device that can be used by the user to experience the media content by providing metadata from the first device to at least the second device.

57. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by one or more computing devices, cause the devices to:

monitor a user'"'"'s media-playing experience by monitoring one or more parameters associated with the user'"'"'s experience, the parameters comprising at least;

a last played time associated with when a particular piece of content was played by the user;

an update time associated with when one or more other parameters are updated;

a user rating for allowing a user to rate content;

an effective rating that provides a rating for content that the user has not actually rated;

a service rating for providing a third party rating on content;

a playcount total comprising the total number of times a particular piece of content has been played; and

one or more custom parameters that can be programmed by the user.

produce metadata associated with the monitored parameter(s); and

associate produced metadata with media content experienced by the user.

58. The computer-readable media of claim 57, wherein the instructions cause the one or more computing devices to monitor a user'"'"'s music-playing experience.

59. The computer-readable media of claim 57, wherein the instructions cause the one or more computing devices to monitor a user'"'"'s music-playing experience for each song that a user plays.

60. A computing device embodying the computer-readable media of claim 57.

61. A software application configured to:

monitor a user'"'"'s media-playing experience by monitoring one or more parameters associated with the user'"'"'s experience, the parameters comprising at least;

a last played time associated with when a particular piece of content was played by the user;

an update time associated with when one or more other parameters are updated;

a user rating for allowing a user to rate content;

an effective rating that provides a rating for content that the user has not actually rated;

a service rating for providing a third party rating on content;

a playcount total comprising the total number of times a particular piece of content has been played; and

one or more custom parameters that can be programmed by the user.

produce metadata associated with the monitored parameter(s); and

associate produced metadata with media content experienced by the user.

62. The software application of claim 61, wherein the software application monitors the user'"'"'s music-playing experience.

63. The software application of claim 61, wherein the software application monitors the user'"'"'s music-playing experience for each song that a user plays.

64. The software application of claim 61, wherein the software application comprises a media player application.

65. A method comprising:

defining a plurality of time periods;

monitoring a user'"'"'s media-playing experience by monitoring one or more parameters associated with the user'"'"'s media-playing experience during the defined time periods;

producing metadata associated with the monitored parameter(s); and

associating produced metadata with media content experienced by the user.

66. The method of claim 65, wherein the time periods comprise individual days.

67. The method of claim 65, wherein the time periods comprise times of the day.

68. The method of claim 65, wherein the time periods comprise times of the week.

69. The method of claim 65, wherein the time periods comprise one or more or:

individual days, times of the day, and times of the week.

70. The method of claim 65, wherein the parameters comprise one or more of:

a last played time associated with when a particular piece of content was played by the user;

an update time associated with when one or more other parameters are updated;

a user rating for allowing a user to rate content;

an effective rating that provides a rating for content that the user has not actually rated;

a service rating for providing a third party rating on content;

it a playcount total comprising the total number of times a particular piece of content has been played; and

one or more custom parameters that can be programmed by the user.

71. The method of claim 65, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by monitoring the user'"'"'s music-playing experience.

72. The method of claim 65, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by monitoring the user'"'"'s music-playing experience for each song that a user plays.

73. The method of claim 65, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a first device on which the user can experience the media content and further comprising updating metadata on at least a second device that can be used by the user to experience the media content by providing metadata from the first device to at least the second device.

74. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by one or more computing devices, cause the devices to:

define a plurality of time periods;

monitor a user'"'"'s media-playing experience by monitoring one or more parameters associated with the user'"'"'s media-playing experience during the defined time periods;

produce metadata associated with the monitored parameter(s); and

associate produced metadata with media content experienced by the user.

75. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 74, wherein the parameters comprise one or more of:

a last played time associated with when a particular piece of content was played by the user;

an update time associated with when one or more other parameters are updated;

a user rating for allowing a user to rate content;

an effective rating that provides a rating for content that the user has not actually rated;

a service rating for providing a third party rating on content;

a playcount total comprising the total number of times a particular piece of content has been played; and

one or more custom parameters that can be programmed by the user.

76. A computing device embodying the computer-readable media of claim 74.

77. A media-playing software application configured to:

define a plurality of time periods;

monitor a user'"'"'s media-playing experience by monitoring one or more parameters associated with the user'"'"'s media-playing experience during the defined time periods;

produce metadata associated with the monitored parameter(s); and

associate produced metadata with media content experienced by the user.

78. The media-playing application of claim 77, wherein the parameters comprise one or more of:

a last played time associated with when a particular piece of content was played by the user;

an update time associated with when one or more other parameters are updated;

a user rating for allowing a user to rate content;

an effective rating that provides a rating for content that the user has not actually rated;

a service rating for providing a third party rating on content;

a playcount total comprising the total number of times a particular piece of content has been played; and

one or more custom parameters that can be programmed by the user.

79. The media-playing application of claim 77, wherein the application is configured to play music content.

80. A method comprising:

defining a plurality of time periods, the time periods comprising individual days, times of the day, and times of the week;

monitoring a user'"'"'s music-playing experience by monitoring one or more parameters associated with the user'"'"'s experience during the defined time periods, the parameters comprising one or more of;

a last played time associated with when a particular piece of music was played by the user;

an update time associated with when one or more other parameters are updated;

a user rating for allowing a user to rate music;

an effective rating that provides a rating for music that the user has not actually rated;

a service rating for providing a third party rating on music;

a playcount total comprising the total number of times a particular piece of music has been played;

one or more custom parameters that can be programmed by the user;

producing metadata associated with the monitored parameter(s); and

associating produced metadata with music content experienced by the user.

81. The method of claim 80, wherein the act of producing is performed for each song that a user plays.

82. The method of claim 80, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a media-playing application configured to play media that the user can experience.

83. The method of claim 80, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a computing device on which the user can experience the media.

84. The method of claim 80, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a first device on which the user can experience the media content and further comprising updating metadata on at least a second device that can be used by the user to experience the media content by providing metadata from the first device to at least the second device.

85. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by one or more computing devices, implement the method of claim 80.

86. A computing device embodying the computer-readable media of claim 85.

87. A software application configured to implement the method of claim 80.

88. A method comprising:

monitoring a user'"'"'s media-playing experience using a first device on which the user can experience the media;

producing metadata associated with the user'"'"'s media-playing experience;

associating produced metadata with media content experienced by the user;

maintaining at least the metadata in a database on the first device;

updating metadata on at least a second device that can be used by the user to experience the media by providing metadata from the first device to at least the second device.

89. The method of claim 88, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by monitoring the user'"'"'s music-playing experience.

90. The method of claim 88, wherein:

the act of monitoring is performed by monitoring the user'"'"'s music-playing experience; and

the act of producing is performed for each song that a user plays.

91. The method of claim 88, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a media-playing application configured to play media that the user can experience.

92. The method of claim 88, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a computing device on which the user can experience the media.

93. The method of claim 88, wherein the act of monitoring is performed relative to media that is locally stored on a computing device and locally played on the computing device.

94. The method of claim 88, wherein the act of updating is performed by using, at least in part, a third party.

95. The method of claim 88, wherein the act of updating is performed by providing both the metadata and its associated media content to at least the second device.

96. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by one or more computing devices, cause the computing device to implement the method of claim 88.

97. A computing device embodying the computer-readable media of claim 96.

98. A software application configured to implement the method of claim 88.

99. A method comprising:

monitoring multiple users'"'"' media-playing experiences;

producing metadata associated with each of the users'"'"' media-playing experiences;

associating produced metadata with media content experienced by the users.

100. The method of claim 99, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by monitoring the user'"'"'s music-playing experience.

101. The method of claim 99, wherein:

the act of monitoring is performed by monitoring the user'"'"'s music-playing experience;

the act of producing is performed for each song that a user plays.

102. The method of claim 99, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a media-playing application configured to play media that the user can experience.

103. The method of claim 99, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a computing device on which the user can experience the media.

104. The method of claim 99, wherein the act of monitoring is performed relative to media that is locally stored on a computing device and locally played on the computing device.

105. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to implement the method of claim 99.

106. A media-playing software application configured to implement the method of claim 99.

107. The method of claim 99 further comprising identifying each of the users with an identifier, each user'"'"'s identifier being recognizable by its associated user, but not being mathematically reversible to ascertain the associated user'"'"'s actual identity.

108. A method comprising:

monitoring multiple user'"'"'s media-playing experiences by monitoring one or more parameters associated with the users'"'"' experiences, the parameters comprising at least a last played time associated with when a particular piece of content was played by the users;

producing metadata, for each of the users, associated with the monitored parameter(s);

associating, for each of the users, produced metadata with media content experienced by the users.

109. The method of claim 108, wherein the one or more parameters comprise, for each user, one or more of the following parameters:

an update time associated with when one or more other parameters are updated;

a user rating for allowing a user to rate content;

an effective rating that provides a rating for content that the user has not actually rated;

a service rating for providing a third party rating on content;

a playcount total comprising the total number of times a particular piece of content has been played; and

one or more custom parameters that can be programmed by the user.

110. The method of claim 109, wherein the one or more parameters comprise a timestamp parameter associated with when the effective rating was provided.

111. The method of claim 108, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by monitoring the users'"'"' music-playing experiences.

112. The method of claim 108, wherein:

the act of monitoring is performed by monitoring the users'"'"' music-playing experiences; and

the act of producing is performed for each song that a user plays.

113. The method of claim 108, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a media-playing application configured to play media that the one or more of the user can experience.

114. The method of claim 108, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a computing device on which the one or more of the users can experience the media.

115. The method of claim 108, wherein the act of monitoring is performed relative to media that is locally stored on a computing device and locally played on the computing device.

116. The method of claim 108, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a first device on which one or more user can experience the media content and further comprising updating metadata on at least a second device that can be used by the one or more user to experience the media content by providing metadata from the first device to at least the second device.

117. The method of claim 108 further comprising identifying each of the users with an identifier, each user'"'"'s identifier being recognizable by its associated user, but not being mathematically reversible to ascertain the associated user'"'"'s actual identity.

118. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by one or more computing devices, implement the method of claim 108.

119. A computing device embodying the computer-readable media of claim 118.

120. A software application configured to implement the method of claim 108.

121. A method comprising:

defining a plurality of time periods;

monitoring multiple users'"'"' media-playing experiences by monitoring one or more parameters associated with individual user'"'"'s experience during the defined time periods;

producing, for individual users, metadata associated with the monitored parameter(s); and

associating, for individual users, produced metadata with media content experienced by the respective users.

122. The method of claim 121, wherein the time periods comprise individual days.

123. The method of claim 121, wherein the time periods comprise times of day.

124. The method of claim 121, wherein the time periods comprise times of the week.

125. The method of claim 121, wherein the time periods comprise one or more of:

individual days, times of the day, and times of the week.

126. The method of claim 121, wherein the parameters comprise, for each user, one or more of:

a last played time associated with when a particular piece of content was played by the user;

an update time associated with when one or more other parameters are updated;

a user rating for allowing a user to rate content;

an effective rating that provides a rating for content that the user has not actually rated;

a service rating for providing a third party rating on content;

a playcount total comprising the total number of times a particular piece of content has been played; and

one or more custom parameters that can be programmed by the user.

127. The method of claim 121, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by monitoring the users'"'"' music-playing experience.

128. The method of claim 121, wherein the:

act of monitoring is performed by monitoring the users'"'"' music-playing experience; and

the act of producing is performed for each song that a user plays.

129. The method of claim 121, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a media-playing application configured to play media that one or more users can experience.

130. The method of claim 121, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a computing device on which one or more users can experience the media.

131. The method of claim 121, wherein the act of monitoring is performed relative to media that is locally stored on a computing device and locally played on the computing device.

132. The method of claim 121, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a first device on which one or more users can experience the media content and further comprising updating metadata on at least a second device that can be used by the one or more users to experience the media content by providing metadata from the first device to at least the second device.

133. The method of claim 121 further comprising identifying each of the users with an identifier, each user'"'"'s identifier being recognizable by its associated user, but not being mathematically reversible to ascertain the associated user'"'"'s actual identity.

134. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by one or more computing devices, implement the method of claim 121.

135. A computing device embodying the computer-readable media of claim 121.

136. A software application configured to implement the method of claim 121.

137. A method comprising:

monitoring multiple users'"'"' media-playing experiences using a first device on which one or more users can experience the media;

producing metadata associated with the users'"'"' media-playing experiences;

associating produced metadata with media content experienced by the users;

maintaining, for individual users, at least the metadata in a database on the first device;

updating metadata on at least a second device that can be used by one or more user to experience the media by providing metadata from the first device to at least the second device.

138. The method of claim 137, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by monitoring the users'"'"' music-playing experiences.

139. The method of claim 137, wherein:

the act of monitoring is performed by monitoring the users'"'"' music-playing experiences; and

the act of producing is performed for each song that a user plays.

140. The method of claim 137, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a media-playing application configured to play media that one or more users can experience.

141. The method of claim 137, wherein the act of monitoring is performed by a computing device on which one or more users can experience the media.

142. The method of claim 137, wherein the act of monitoring is performed relative to media that is locally stored on a computing device and locally played on the computing device.

143. The method of claim 137, wherein the act of updating is performed by using, at least in part, a third party.

144. The method of claim 137, wherein the act of updating is performed by providing both the metadata and its associated media content to at least the second device.

145. The method of claim 137 further comprising identifying each of the users with an identifier, each user'"'"'s identifier being recognizable by its associated user, but not being mathematically reversible to ascertain the associated user'"'"'s actual identity.

146. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by one or more computing devices, implement the method of claim 137.

147. A computing device embodying the computer-readable media of claim 146.

148. A software application configured to implement the method of claim 137.

149. A file structure comprising:

a user metadata portion;

metadata for multiple users within the metadata portion;

the metadata being associated with and produced from one or more parameters that are monitored and which pertain to media content that can be experienced by the users;

the one or more parameters comprising one or more of the following;

a last played time associated with when a particular piece of content was played by the user;

an update time associated with when one or more other parameters are updated;

a user rating for allowing a user to rate content;

an effective rating that provides a rating for content that the user has not actually rated;

a service rating for providing a third party rating on content;

a playcount total comprising the total number of times a particular piece of content has been played;

one or more custom parameters that can be programmed by the user.

150. The file structure of claim 149 further comprising a content portion that contains media content associated with the metadata.

151. The file structure of claim 149 further comprising a content portion that contains media content associated with the metadata, the content portion comprising music content.

152. The file structure of claim 149, wherein the multiple users comprise a predetermined number of users.

153. A computing device embodying the file structure of claim 149.

154. A method comprising:

receiving at least one character string associated with at least one user;

selecting a number of characters from the character string;

computing another character string using remaining characters of the received character string;

combining the selected characters and the computed character string to provide an identifier for said at least one user; and

associating the identifier with metadata that is associated with media content that can be experienced by said at least one user.

155. The method of claim 154, wherein the act of computing comprises using a hash function.