DIGITAL MEDIA CONTENT COMPARATOR

A system for acquiring digital content identified in a celebrity content list without disclosing the list, includes a database storing at least one celebrity content list, the list being associated with a particular celebrity and identifying digital content selected by the celebrity. A request is received from a user's computing device for a specific quantity of content associated with a particular celebrity content list and the particular celebrity content list is retrieved from the database. A list is received from the user's computing device identifying existing user content user stored on or otherwise accessible by the user's computing device. The existing user content is compared to the particular celebrity content list to identify any missing content absent from the existing user content. The specific quantity of missing content is transmitted to the user's computing device without the user viewing the particular celebrity content list.

FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to digital media content management and, more particularly, to a computer-implemented system and method that compares a user's digital media content to a celebrity's digital media content playlist and facilitates the acquisition of missing digital media content by the user.

BACKGROUND

Society idolizes celebrities and people frequently want to emulate them. As a result, celebrities are often trendsetters, and what they do, where they go, and what they wear can influence consumers' decision making with respect to taste, style and even public opinion.

Many people want to know as much as they can about a particular celebrity and, in particular, are extremely interested in what digital media content (e.g., music, video, books, etc.) celebrities consume. Like many consumers, celebrities organize their personal acquired, licensed or rented digital media content into playlists based on personal preferences. For example, a celebrity may create a playlist of different songs by different artists that the celebrity prefers to listen to while relaxing, exercising, dining, driving, etc.

While a digital media playlist can be shared with others and some celebrities have posted playlists online, such playlists are static, tend to be artificially populated and may not be reflective of what a particular celebrity is actually listening to. However, once a celebrity's playlist is posted online or otherwise made available to consumers, that celebrity loses the opportunity to monetize the celebrity's playlist because consumers can obtain digital media content in the playlist elsewhere.

What is needed is a way for consumers to access the contents of non-static, “real” celebrity digital media playlists without allowing the consumer to view the playlists.

SUMMARY

One aspect of this disclosure provides a system and computer-implemented method for acquiring digital content identified in a celebrity content list without disclosing the list. One or more celebrity content lists are stored in at least one database, each celebrity content list being associated with a particular celebrity and identifying digital content selected by the celebrity for inclusion in list. When executed by at least one processor, program instructions stored in non-transient memory cause the at least one processor to receive a request from a user's computing device for a specific quantity of content associated with a particular celebrity content list. The particular celebrity content list associated with the request is retrieved from the at least one database. A list is received from the user's computing device identifying existing user content user stored on or otherwise accessible by the user's computing device. The existing user content is compared to the particular celebrity content list to identify any missing content absent from the existing user content. The specific quantity of missing content is transmitted to the user's computing device without the user viewing the particular celebrity content list.

The foregoing and following outlines rather generally the features and technical advantages of one or more embodiments of this disclosure in order that the following detailed description may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of this disclosure will be described hereinafter, which may form the subject of the claims of this application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A technical solution has been devised to address the problem of how a celebrity can allow a user to access the contents of the celebrity's digital media playlist without the user being able to view that playlist. The systems and associated computer-implemented methods involve creating a celebrity content listing (“playlist”), importantly, keeping that content listing non-viewable (“blinded”) from the user, comparing the user's existing digital media content to the digital media content in the celebrity content listing to identify missing content that the user does not have access to (“missing content”), and, optionally for a fee paid by the user, allowing the user to purchase, rent or legally download missing content to the user's computing device.

The technical solution may be implemented as a cloud-based solution that obtains one or more celebrity content listings (playlists) stored on one or more computing devices associated with one or more celebrities. Such celebrity content listings may include (but are not limited to) music listened to, videos watched, TV channels/shows watched, web sites visited, blogs read, social media content followed, pictures viewed, places visited, items purchased, and applications (apps) used, which are just a few of the many examples of listings of content that can typically be acquired from a celebrity's computing device.

Users who want to have matching digital media content to a celebrity of interest submit a request (preferably with an associated payment of a fee) over a network using the user's computing device, which request is received by the cloud-based computing environment. The cloud-based computing environment compares the user's existing digital media content to the digital media content on the celebrity's playlist to identify what content is missing from the user's existing content (“missing content”), and provides some or all of the missing content (or a pathway for accessing the content, e.g., a link to a YouTube® video) to the user's device, either through the cloud-based service acting as an intermediary, or directly from one or more content providers to the user's one or more computing devices.

Although this disclosure is described in connection with a cloud computing environment, it is understood that implementation of the teachings recited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather, embodiments of the present disclosure are capable of being implemented in conjunction with any other type of computing environment now known or later developed.

FIG. 1is a block diagram of an illustrative computing device100for use in connection with various embodiments of this disclosure. Examples of computing devices100include (but are not limited to) mobile phones, smartphones, digital music players, tablets, digital video players, laptop computers, personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), servers, virtual machines, online cloud storage locations, and other computing products configured to store or playback digital media content.

As shown, the computing device100includes one or more processing units110coupled to system memory120, and various sensors and subsystems including (but not limited to) wireless communication subsystem(s)130, audio subsystem140, I/O subsystem150, power subsystem160, etc.

The processing unit(s)110is coupled to system memory120, which stores various software components or applications to be executed by processing unit(s)110. Preferably, memory120stores an operating system (OS)122, which includes various procedures, sets of instructions, software components and/or drivers for controlling and managing general system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control, power management, etc.) and facilitates communication between various hardware and software components. System memory120also preferably includes RAM124and non-volatile flash memory126, a combination of volatile/non-volatile memory, and/or any other type of memory.

System memory120also includes a digital media content manager128, which is an application (e.g., iTunes®, Windows® Media Player, Real Rhapsody®, etc.) for creating, sharing, search, organizing and accessing playlists of digital media content stored on (or otherwise accessible to) the device100.

System memory120may also include communication instructions to facilitate communicating with one or more additional devices; graphical user interface (GUI) instructions to facilitate GUI processing; image processing instructions to facilitate image-related processing and functions; input processing instructions to facilitate input-related (e.g., touch input) processes and functions; audio processing instructions to facilitate audio-related processes and functions; camera instructions to facilitate camera-related processes and functions; and biometric verification instructions to facilitate the verification of biometric data. It is understood that the communication instructions described above are merely exemplary and the system memory120may also include additional instructions. For example, memory120for a computing device110may include phone instructions to facilitate phone-related processes and functions. It is also understood that the above-mentioned instructions need not be implemented as separate software programs or modules.

Wireless communication subsystem130facilitates communication functions over a network. For example, wireless communication subsystem130may include one or more transmitters and receivers (not shown), which are implemented to operate over a network, which may be a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet, the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a local area network (LAN), an intranet, an extranet, a cellular network, any wired or wireless network, or any combination of the above.

Audio subsystem140is coupled to speaker(s)142to output audio and to microphone144to facilitate voice-enabled functions, such as voice recognition, digital recording, etc.

I/O subsystem150facilitates the transfer between I/O peripheral devices, such as (but not limited to) a touch screen153, and the data bus of the processing unit(s)110. I/O subsystem150includes a touch screen controller152and other I/O controller(s)154to facilitate the transfer between I/O peripheral devices153,155and the data bus of processing unit(s)100.

The computing device100also includes one or more power source(s)160for powering the various hardware components of the computing device. Power source160may include a power management system, one or more power sources, a recharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converter or inverter, a power status indicator, and any other components typically associated with the generation, management and distribution of power in computing devices.

FIG. 2illustrates, in simplified form, an exemplary system200in which the cloud based service220acts as a content comparator240. One or more celebrities210utilize one or more computing device(s)215to interact wirelessly over a network with a computer programmed cloud-based service220, which obtains, from the celebrity's computing device215, a celebrity content listing that is stored in one or more content list databases230.

In addition to the content list database(s)230, the cloud-based service220also includes one or more computer programmed content comparators240. The content comparator(s)240is responsible for receiving a request from a computing device255of a user250for content related to a specific celebrity210, accessing information about the user's existing content stored on (or otherwise accessible by) the user's one or more computing device(s)255, comparing the user's existing content to the celebrity content list stored in the content list database(s)230, and determining what content, if any, is missing (“missing content”) from the user's existing content.

Once the missing content has been determined (and the user has preferably paid for it), the cloud-based service220works cooperatively with one or more content providers260to provide the missing content to the user's computing device(s)255.

The computing devices215,255illustrated inFIG. 2may be implemented using the illustrative computing device100ofFIG. 1or any other known computing device configured to store or playback digital media content.

With respect to the cloud-based service220obtaining the celebrity content listing from the celebrity's computing device(s)215, this can be performed by either the celebrity's computing device(s)215pushing the celebrity content listing to the cloud-based service220or the celebrity content listing being pulled from the celebrity's computing device(s)215. Pushing can be accomplished in a conventional manner and typically would employ an app that either runs in the foreground or background of the celebrity's computing device(s)215. The app would be configured to determine the celebrity content listing from information stored on (or otherwise accessible to) the celebrity's computing device(s)215and to send the information to the cloud-based service220. Pulling can similarly be accomplished in a conventional manner and may employ an app running in the foreground or background of the celebrity's computing device(s)215that the cloud-based service220interacts with, or the cloud-based service220may acquire the celebrity content listing by directly accessing information stored on (or otherwise accessible to) the celebrity's computing device(s)215, without the use of an app, such as when the celebrity's computing device(s)215is plugged into a docking station.

Whether pulling or pushing is utilized, the celebrity content listing is preferably periodically updated, which can similarly be through either pulling or pushing, but need not be performed in the same manner as the celebrity content listing was originally obtained. Updates can either be performed in real time (e.g., if the celebrity content listing is associated with musical content listened to, then every time a song is listened to by the celebrity210that content listing could be automatically updated), based on the passage of time (e.g., hourly, nightly, weekly, monthly, etc.), based on an event (e.g., new musical content is acquired by the celebrity210), and/or initiated by the celebrity210(e.g., the celebrity pressed an update button within an app running on the celebrity's computing device215).

WhileFIG. 2illustrates missing content being provided directly from the content provider(s)260to the user's computing device(s)255, it is understood that the missing content could alternatively be provided with a cloud-based service acting as an intermediary, which is illustrated inFIG. 3.FIG. 3illustrates, in simplified form, an exemplary system300in which the cloud-based service320acts as a content comparator/exchanger340.

The representative systems200,300disclosed inFIGS. 2 and 3are similar in structure and operation, except that inFIG. 3the content is first received by the content comparator/exchanger340from the content provider260prior to being provided to the user's computing device(s)255.

While the content comparator/exchanger340is shown as a single component inFIG. 3, it is understood that the content comparator/exchanger could alternatively be divided into separate components, where one component handles the comparing and the other component handles the exchanging.

FIGS. 4 and 5illustrate, in simplified form, an example in which the comparator240,340identifies missing content from a user's computing device255upon receipt of a celebrity content request from the user250. In this example, a celebrity content listing410created by a celebrity210lists digital media content in the form of a playlist. In this example, the celebrity playlist410includes Song 1, Song 2, Song 3, Song 4, Song 5, Song 6, Song 7, Song 8, Song 9, Song 10, . . . Song n). The comparator240,340compares the celebrity playlist410to the user's existing content450stored on (or otherwise accessible by) computing device(s)255associated with the user250. In this example, the user's existing content includes Song 1, Song 2, Song 3, Song 4 and Song 5.

Referring toFIG. 5, based on comparison of the celebrity playlist410to the user's existing content450, the comparator240,340identifies missing content520, which represents the portion of the celebrity playlist410that the is not contained within the user's existing content450. In this example, the area of overlap510represents the digital media content (i.e., Song 1, Song 2, Song 3, Song 4 and Song 5) identified in the celebrity playlist410that is part of the user's existing content450. Similarly, in this example, the comparator240,340would identify the missing content as Song 6, Song 7, Song 8, Song 9, Song 10, . . . Song n.

By only providing missing content to the user, the full contents of the celebrity's content list410are not provided to the user. While it is conceivable for a user to start without any user content100and ultimately discover the total celebrity content410by purchasing all of the missing content510, this would require the user to purchase all of the celebrity content410, at perhaps considerable expense to the user and a financial gain to the celebrity. Additionally, by periodically updating the celebrity content410, then, in order for the user250to obtain a complete and accurate list of the celebrity content410, the user would have to each and every time start without any user content100in order to obtain the complete updated celebrity content list. The reason being that, while a second purchase might provide any “new” missing content, the user would not be privy to, or have knowledge of, any content that was no longer a part of the celebrity content410because the deleted content would still be a part of the user's content acquired during the initial purchase. Furthermore, while it is advantageous to employ both only providing missing content and periodically updating the content together, both strategies can also be deployed separately to aid a celebrity in maintaining control over disclosure of the celebrity's content listings.

Having described exemplary systems above, exemplary methods will now be described. To this end,FIG. 6illustrates, in simplified form, an exemplary process flow600, which includes the following steps using one or more computer programmed processors. In Step610, a celebrity content list is obtained and stored in database230. As previously described, obtaining a celebrity content list and storing it in database230may involve either pushing or pulling information about celebrity content660stored in one or more of the celebrity's computing devices215, which may be an actual device in the possession of the celebrity210or a server based account (e.g., iTunes®) that is associated with the celebrity210. Once obtained, the celebrity content list is stored in one or more content list databases230.

In Step620, a request is received over a network from the computing device255of a user250for specific celebrity content. By way of example only, the request from the user250may be related to a particular celebrity (e.g., Taylor Swift, Tom Hanks, Tom Brady, President Obama, etc.), category/group of celebrities (e.g., heavy metal guitarists, members of the band Kiss®, etc.), a type of content (e.g., music, videos, social media, etc.), a sub-categorization of content (e.g., Jazz songs within the celebrity's content of music), frequency of access by the celebrity, most recent access by the celebrity, related to the user himself (e.g., only music where there is a matching genre between the user and the celebrity or that is age appropriate for the user), or have a quantity associated with specificity (e.g., all missing, a specific quantity of missing, a percentage missing, a quantity missing that has a cost of acquisition by the user related to a specific dollar amount, etc.). Additionally, receipt of a request for specific celebrity content may be accompanied by an associated payment by the user, in order for the missing digital media content (missing content) to be provided to the user's device255.

In Step630, responsive to the request received from the user250, a specific celebrity content list is retrieved from database(s)230. In Step640, the user's existing content is compared to the specific celebrity content list retrieved from database230. This comparison, performed by the content comparator240,340, may be performed either before or after the user250has made the specific request for content. If the comparison is performed before the request is made, then such information may be supplied to the user's computing device255for display to the user250ahead of time (e.g., Elton John's music playlist includes 12 songs that are not in the user's playlist related to show tunes). Alternatively, the user250can make the request without knowing the quantity of missing content, and preferably commit an associated payment, and then receive a refund (inclusive of a partial order processing) if the user paid for more requested content than is available as missing content. The latter approach is advantageous because it provides more control over the celebrity content listing because less information is publicly disclosed.

In Step650, missing content is provided to the user's computing device255via one or more networks. As previously discussed in connection withFIGS. 2 and 3, missing content may be provided to the user250by either downloading the missing content to the user's computing device(s)255directly from the content provider260(FIG. 2) or indirectly via the content comparator/exchanger340(FIG. 3).

Additionally, when the quantity of missing content exceeds the quantity of requested content, the missing content may be provided to the user (Step650) based upon predetermined criteria, which may include (but is not limited to) one of more of the following criteria: random selection, frequency of access by the celebrity, most recent access by the celebrity, and/or secondary categorization (e.g., based upon properties of the of the existing content of the user such as, for example, a high concentration of Beatles® songs).

The exemplary systems and methods discussed above are equally applicable to any type of celebrity content including (but not limited to) music listened to, videos watched, TV channels/shows watched, web sites visited, blogs read, social media content followed, pictures viewed, places visited, items purchased, and apps used, which are just a few of the many examples of listings of content that can typically be acquired from celebrity computing device(s)100,215.

As stated above, although not limited to cloud computing environments, some embodiments of this disclosure are described as being implemented in a cloud computing environment. A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus on statelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability. At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising a network of interconnected nodes.

Computer system/server710may be described in the general context of computer system-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer system. Generally, program modules may include routines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and so on that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Computer system/server710may be practiced in distributed cloud computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed cloud computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer system storage media including memory storage devices.

As shown inFIG. 7, computer system/server710in cloud computing node700is shown in the form of a general-purpose computing device. The components of computer system/server710may include, but are not limited to, one or more processors or processing units715, a system memory720, and a bus718that couples various system components including system memory720to processing unit(s)715.

Computer system/server710typically includes a variety of computer system readable media. Such media may be any available media that is accessible by computer system/server710, and it includes both volatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media.

Program/utility740, having a set (at least one) of program modules742, may be stored in memory720by way of example, and not limitation, as well as an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data or some combination thereof, may include an implementation of a networking environment. Program modules742generally carry out the functions and/or methodologies of embodiments of the invention as described herein.

Computer system/server710may also communicate with one or more external devices750such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display752, etc.; one or more devices that enable a user to interact with computer system/server710; and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) that enable computer system/server710to communicate with one or more other computing devices. Such communication can occur via Input/Output (I/O) interfaces760. Still yet, computer system/server710can communicate with one or more networks such as a local area network (LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g., the Internet) via network adapter770. As depicted, network adapter770communicates with the other components of computer system/server710via bus718. It should be understood that although not shown, other hardware and/or software components could be used in conjunction with computer system/server710. Examples, include, but are not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc.