Digital Media Player And Method For Facilitating Music Recommendation

• US 20090069912A1
• Filed: 10/23/2007
• Published: 03/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Palo Alto Research Center, Inc. (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Palo Alto Research Center, Inc. (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Stefik, Mark Jeffrey
• Granted Patent: US 8,666,525 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/94
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/635 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/638 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/639 using playlists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation

Abstract

A portable digital media player and method for providing convenient music recommendation are presented. A collection of music is maintained and includes a multiplicity of music stored in digital media form. A music recommendation is automatically generated in response to a recommender input. An identifier for a recipient is provided. Music to be recommended is identified from one of the music collection and a sample of music in an ambient environment. Information to the music recommendation to describe the music to be recommended, to identify the recommender, to capture a context of the recommendation, and to specify a rating for the music to be recommended is ascertained and added to the music recommendation. The music recommendation is sent for electronic receipt by the recipient.

Claims

1. A digital media player for facilitating music recommendation, comprising:

a generation module to build a music recommendation for a recommender, each such music recommendation comprising;

a recipient for electronic receipt;

music to be recommended; and

information to describe one or more of an identification of the music to be recommended, the recommender, a context of the recommendation, and a rating for the music to be recommended; and

a communications interface to provide the music recommendation to the recipient.

2. A player according to claim 1, further comprising at least one of:

a selector module to implicitly choose music in play or being viewed as the music to be recommended;

a prompter to confirm music selection from the recommender;

a background watcher to pick the music to be recommended based on one or more of monitored listening habits and selections by the recommender; and

an address module to automatically select the recipient based on one or more of a list of frequently selected recipients, shared musical interests, and history of past recommendations and whether the recipient followed those past recommendations.

3. A player according to claim 1, further comprising at least one of:

an input interface to annotate a message to the music recommendation for the recipient in one or more of text and voice; and

a tracker to automatically track the music recommendation by maintaining a record of the music recommendation following provisioning to the recipient.

4. A player according to claim 1, further comprising at least one of:

information for the identification of the music to be recommended selected from the group comprising a title of the music, performing artist, album name, genre, publisher, availability, length, digital identifier, and a sample of the music;

information for the recommender selected from the group comprising the recommender'"'"'s name, relation, address data, phone number, email address, Web site, usage, social filtering, and collaborative filtering;

information for the context of the recommendation selected from the group comprising a time, place, or circumstance of the recommendation; and

information for the rating for the music to be recommended selected from the group comprising a position on one of a two-level scale and a multi-level scale.

5. A player according to claim 1, wherein the recommender comprises a recommendation source selected from the group comprising direct, subscribed, self, usage-based, and popularity- and profile-based recommendation sources.

6. A player according to claim 1, wherein the music to be recommended comprises one of content other than actual music, a rendition of the music with initial limitations on playback rights, a reference to an online sample of the music, and another music recommendation that is being forwarded from another recommender.

7. A player according to claim 1, wherein the music to be recommended comprises one of a limited excerpt, single song, selection of songs, plurality of tracks, album, and music compilation.

8. A method for facilitating music recommendation, comprising:

building a music recommendation for a recommender, comprising;

naming a recipient for electronic receipt;

identifying music to be recommended; and

adding information to describe one or more of an identification of the music to be recommended, the recommender, a context of the recommendation, and a rating for the music to be recommended; and

providing the music recommendation to the recipient.

9. A method according to claim 8, further comprising at least one of:

implicitly choosing music in play or being viewed as the music to be recommended;

confirming music selection from the recommender;

picking the music to be recommended based on one or more of monitored listening habits and selections by the recommender; and

automatically selecting the recipient based on one or more of a list of frequently selected recipients, shared musical interests, and history of past recommendations and whether the recipient followed those past recommendations.

10. A method according to claim 8, further comprising at least one of:

annotating a message to the music recommendation for the recipient in one or more of text and voice; and

automatically tracking the music recommendation by maintaining a record of the music recommendation following provisioning to the recipient.

11. A method according to claim 8, further comprising at least one of:

selecting the identification of the music to be recommended from the group comprising a title of the music, performing artist, album name, genre, publisher, availability, length, digital identifier, and a sample of the music;

selecting the recommender from the group comprising the recommender'"'"'s name, relation, address data, phone number, email address, Web site, usage, social filtering, and collaborative filtering;

selecting the context of the recommendation from the group comprising a time, place, or circumstance of the recommendation, and

selecting the rating for the music to be recommended from the group comprising a position on one of a two-level scale and a multi-level scale.

12. A method according to claim 8, wherein the recommender comprises a recommendation source selected from the group comprising direct, subscribed, self, usage-based, and popularity- and profile-based recommendation sources.

13. A method according to claim 8, wherein the music to be recommended comprises one of content other than actual music, a rendition of the music with initial limitations on playback rights, a reference to an online sample of the music, and another music recommendation that is being forwarded from another recommender.

14. A method according to claim 8, wherein the music to be recommended comprises one of a limited excerpt, single song, selection of songs, plurality of tracks, album, and music compilation.

15. A portable digital media player for providing convenient music recommendation, comprising:

a storage comprising a collection of music, which comprises a multiplicity of music stored in digital media form;

a user interface comprising an input control to automatically generate a music recommendation in response to a recommender input;

a recommendation shell, comprising;

an identifier for a recipient; and

music to be recommended from one of the music collection and a sample of music in an ambient environment;

a music recommendation builder to ascertain and to add information to the music recommendation to describe the music to be recommended, to identify the recommender, to capture a context of the recommendation, and to specify a rating for the music to be recommended; and

a communications interface to send the music recommendation for electronic receipt by the recipient.

16. A player according to claim 15, further comprising at least one of:

a single control by which the recommender triggers the music recommendation;

a motion sensor to detect physical motion responsive to a range of physical gestures made by the recommender to signify a selection of the music; and

a voice recognition module to process voice commands spoken by the recommender to signify a selection of the music.

17. A player according to claim 15, wherein one of:

music selection and playback are provided as a dedicated function;

music selection and playback are included as part of a suite of functions; and

music selection and playback are provided as a virtual implementation on a general purpose programmable device.

18. A player according to claim 15, wherein the music recommendation is sent to the recipient either immediately or on a deferred basis.

19. A method for providing convenient music recommendation, comprising:

maintaining a collection of music comprising a multiplicity of music stored in digital media form;

automatically generating a music recommendation in response to a recommender input, comprising;

providing an identifier for a recipient; and

identifying music to be recommended from one of the music collection and a sample of music in an ambient environment;

ascertaining and adding information to the music recommendation to describe the music to be recommended, to identify the recommender, to capture a context of the recommendation, and to specify a rating for the music to be recommended; and

sending the music recommendation for electronic receipt by the recipient.

20. A method according to claim 19, further comprising at least one of:

providing a single control by which the recommender triggers the music recommendation;

sensing physical motion responsive to a range of physical gestures made by the recommender to signify a selection of the music; and

recognizing voice commands spoken by the recommender to signify a selection of the music.

21. A method according to claim 19, further comprising one of:

providing music selection and playback as a dedicated function;

including music selection and playback as part of a suite of functions; and

providing music selection and playback as a virtual implementation on a general purpose programmable device.

22. A method according to claim 19, further comprising:

sending the music recommendation to the recipient either immediately or on a deferred basis.