Patent ID: 7562301

Claim:
A method for creating a playlist for media objects, the method comprising: for a set of media objects each including recorded information, determining a universal identifier (ID) for each media object, the universal ID for each media object being generated by applying an algorithm to at least a portion of the recorded information of the media object, each universal ID being dependent upon the algorithm and at least a portion of the recorded information and independent of information associated with the media object or a provider of the media object, the universal ID for each instance of one of the media objects being identical when generated using the algorithm; receiving a selection of a set of the universal IDs; generating a playlist ID based on the set of universal IDs; and creating a fixed representation of the playlist ID, the fixed representation allowing a device to use the playlist ID to determine media objects including recorded information corresponding to the recorded information of one of the media objects used to generate the set of universal IDs, wherein the device is operable to analyze the recorded information for each media object available to the device using the algorithm to determine whether the media object corresponds to the set of universal IDs, independent of whether the media object already has a universal ID or other identifier, and wherein the algorithm is one of a hash algorithm and a fingerprint algorithm for generating a universal ID using at least a portion of the recorded information for one of the media objects.