Voice clip identification method

• US 7,343,553 B1
• Filed: 08/08/2000
• Issued: 03/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Evan John Kaye
• Original Assignee: Evan John Kaye
• Inventors: Kaye, Evan John
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore; William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen; Maikhanh
• Application Number:
  US09/634,339
• Time in Patent Office: 2,772 Days
• Field of Search: 715/513, 715/516, 715/523, 715/501.1, 715/517, 715/752, 715/500.1, 715/514, 715/526, 704/244, 704/270, 705/10, 705/26, 705/27, 709/217, 709/218, 709/203, 709/223, 709/231, 709/219, 709/200, 709/202, 707/6, 707/104.1, 707/102, 707/3, 345/788, 846/09, 846/15, 846/68, 846/49, 273/243, 463/42
• US Class Current: 704/244
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• 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: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access

Abstract

The present invention provides an interactive method for people to assist one another in identifying titles to songs, artists of songs, or both. The method is preferably performed over a distributed computer network such as the Internet, with some users providing voice clips and others responding with proposed artist or song name identifications corresponding to the voice clip. The voice clip author, in addition to being provided the song name and/or artist, also can be provided with portions of the actual song, the entire song, other tracks from an album or compact disc (“CD”), and perhaps other information concerning the artist, song, era of music, or other relevant content once one or more other users have provided matching identification responses. Users can be further provided with an opportunity to purchase songs, albums, cassettes, CDs or other media containing music through a vendor on the Internet.

Claims

1. A method implemented on a network for identifying the name of a song input by a first user, the network including at least a client machine and a host server connected to the Internet, the method comprising the steps of:

accessing the host server by the first user at the client machine;

automatically receiving identification information of the first user from a cookie stored on the client machine;

sending a request, by the first user, to enter a voice clip of a portion of the song to the host sever;

transmitting a form from the host server to the client machine in response to the request by the client machine, wherein the form comprises embedded components which execute on the client machine;

inputting, though interaction with the form, the voice clip of a portion of the song into a microphone connected to the client machine;

providing the voice clip to the host server;

selectively providing, though interaction with the form, further information relating to the song to the host server;

making the voice clip and the information available to multiple human visitors to the host server;

permitting the multiple human visitors to post an identification of the song to the host server from respective machines connected to the network, the identification of the song comprising at least one of the name of the song and an artist name;

searching the posted identifications for a match of the identity of at least one of the song name and the artist name among a predetermined plurality of the identifications posted by the visitors; and

in the event that a match was determined in the searching step, transmitting to the client machine an electronic notification from the host server that the song in the voice clip has been identified, wherein the electronic notification being received at the client machine in accordance with the first user identification information,

wherein the electronic notification includes a hypertext link to a predetermined page constructed by the host server, and wherein the electronic notification includes at least one of the name of the song and the artist.

2. The method as in claim 1, including the additional step of issuing a benefit to those additional human users who submitted responses that had matching data.

3. The method as in claim 1, wherein the first user identification information is received automatically from the client machine upon accessing the server.

4. The method as in claim 1, wherein the first user identification information is received from the client machine in response to manual input by the first user.