Patent ID: 7346320

Claim:
A method in a data processing system for dynamic radio station tuning, the method comprising: generating a play list, wherein the play list includes an identification of a number of songs, wherein the step of generating the play list includes gathering user input through the use of a touch screen display or through voice input; obtaining music information from a plurality of radio stations; comparing the music information to the play list to generate a schedule, wherein the schedule contains a listing of all songs matching the play list and the music information arranged based on a time the songs are to be played on the plurality of radio stations, and wherein a data structure is generated to store the schedule; dynamically tuning to a radio station within the plurality of radio stations using the schedule, wherein songs from the number of songs are presented to a user as soon as a first song is found matching the play list; playing songs stored locally during a time when no music information matches the play list; and repeating the steps of obtaining music information and comparing the music information to the play list to update the schedule in a background process while songs are being presented to the user.