METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MASTERING MUSIC PLAYED AMONG A PLURALITY OF USERS

• US 20080133763A1
• Filed: 11/30/2006
• Published: 06/05/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Clark, Bryan, Pennington, Havoc
• Granted Patent: US 8,943,210 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/229
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/635 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• 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: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention allow a user to master the music played among a social network. Users of the social network subscribe to the master'"'"'s session and synchronize their media player under control of the master. The master then distributes various selections of music and controls their playback. The master may also add other data, such as voice over or images, to accompany the playback.

Claims

1. A method of mastering music played among a plurality of users of a social network service, said method comprising:

identifying users interested in participating in a session provided by a master user;

receiving, from the master user, data that indicates playlists of music to be played and control information;

distributing the playlist data to the participating users; and

controlling play of the playlists based on the control information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the users interested in participating in the session comprises identifying users who are members of a social network of the master user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the users interested in participating in the session comprises identifying users who have previously participated in sessions provided by the master user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the users interested in participating in the session comprises sending invitations to a plurality of users of the social network service.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein distributing the playlist data comprises:

determining sources of music on the playlist for each user participating in the session;

retrieving the music on the playlist from the sources; and

streaming the music to each user participating in the session.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein distributing the playlist data comprises:

determining whether a user participating in the session is authorized to play one or more items of music on the playlist;

determining a location where the user can legally obtain music that the user lacks authorization; and

providing the user the location where the user can legally obtain the music.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein distributing the playlist data comprises retrieving music on the playlist from a plurality of sources based on accounts possessed by users participating in the session.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein controlling play of the playlists based on the control information comprises:

receiving a command from the master user; and

controlling, in real-time, streaming of the music to the users participating in the session based on the command.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving accompanying audio from the master user; and

streaming the music on the playlist with the accompanying audio from the master user.

10. An apparatus comprising means configured to perform the method of claim 1.

11. A computer readable medium comprising executable program code that configures a computer to perform the method of claim 1.