Auto playlist generation with multiple seed songs

• US 7,196,258 B2
• Filed: 10/21/2005
• Issued: 03/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Platt, John C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Donovan; Lincoln
• Assistant Examiner(s): Warren; David S.
• Application Number:
  US11/255,365
• Publication Number:
  US 20060032363A1
• Time in Patent Office: 522 Days
• Field of Search: 846/00, 846/01, 846/15, 846/47, 846/53, 846/34, 846/66, 700/94, 708/172, 707/102, 707/104.1
• US Class Current: 84/600
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/4387 by the use of playlists
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/48 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/634 Query by example, e.g. query by humming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/639 using playlists
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/68 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/683 using metadata automatically derived from the content
• 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 2240/061 MP3, i.e. MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, lossy audio compression
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/245 ISDN [Integrated Services Digital Network]
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/295 Packet switched network, e.g. token ring
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

The present invention relates to systems and/or methods that generate playlist(s) for a library or collection of media items via selecting a plurality of seed items, at least one of which is an undesirable seed item. Some of the seed items are desirable indicating that a user prefers additional media items similar to the desirable seed items and others are undesirable indicating that the user prefers additional media items dissimilar to the undesirable seed items. Additionally, the seed items can be weighted to establish a relative importance of the seed items. The invention compares media items in the collection with the seed items and determines which media items are added into the playlist by computation of similarity metrics or values. The playlist can be regenerated by adding desirable seed items to the playlist and removing media items from the playlist (e.g., undesirable seed items).

Claims

1. A system that facilitates generating a playlist comprising:

a media analyzer that receives a plurality of media seed items and obtains metadata corresponding to the plurality of seed items;

a matching component that ascertains metadata corresponding to the plurality of seed items despite varying item information based on results of an inexact matching of the metadata, the matching component creates a unique media item identifier that corresponds to the results of the inexact matching of the metadata and assigns the unique media item identifier to a media seed item; and

a playlist generator that employs the metadata to determine similarity values for each of the plurality of seed items, the similarity values relatively employed to ascertain a final similarity value for a selected media item, the final similarity value utilized to generate a playlist.

2. The system of claim 1, the media seed items comprising at least one undesired media seed item.

3. The system of claim 1, the metadata of the plurality of seed items being a part of the plurality of seed items.

4. The system of claim 1, the metadata being obtained from analyzing the plurality of seed items.

5. The system of claim 1, further employing at least one user expressed weight.

6. The system of claim 5, the user expressed weight relates to a strength of positive or negative desire.

7. The system of claim 1, further employing at least one user expressed target preference.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a media database that maintains the collection of media items and provides metadata corresponding to the collection of media items.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising a media player that plays media items from the collection of media items according to the playlist.

10. The system of claim 1, the playlist generator computing final similarity values for the collection of media items.

11. The system of claim 10, the playlist generator further operative to sort the playlist according to the final similarity values.

12. A user interface that facilitates playlist generation comprising:

a media library pane that displays information about a media collection and adds and removes selected tracks to and from a playlist;

an identifier pane that indicates a unique media item identifier for each track, the unique media item identifier is derived from an assessment based on inexact matching of inconsistent metadata contained in the media collection; and

a playlist pane that ascertains a final similarity value of the selected tracks and displays the playlist based at least in part on the final similarity value, the playlist being regenerated on each addition and removal and being a function of the added tracks and the removed tracks, the final similarity value comprises an agglomeration of determined similarity values for each individual added track and removed track.

13. The user interface of claim 12, the playlist pane further displays removed tracks from the playlist.

14. The user interface of claim 12, the displayed information being organized hierarchically and including artist name, album name and track name.

15. The user interface of claim 12, the media library pane initiates a preview of the selected tracks.

16. The user interface of claim 12, the playlist pane clears tracks from the playlist.

17. The user interface of claim 12, the playlist pane saves the playlist to a file.

18. The user interface of claim 12, further comprising a media player that plays the tracks identified in the playlist.

19. The user interface of claim 12, the playlist pane assigns weights to the selected tracks.

20. A system that facilitates playlist generation comprising:

means for adding desirable seed items to a playlist;

means for removing undesirable seed items from the playlist;

means for employing inexact matching of incomplete metadata corresponding to the seed items that reveal an identification of the seed items;

means for assigning unique media item identifiers to media items based on the identification of the seed items; and

means for generating the playlist at least in part on metadata associated with the desirable seed items and the undesirable seed items, the playlist selectively including media items similar to the desired seed item and dissimilar to the undesired seed item, the metadata utilized to generate relative similarity values for each of the desired media items and undesired seed items, the relative similarity values aggregated to form a final similarity value employed by the means for generating.