US20140245147A1

US20140245147A1 - Active Playlist Having Dynamic Media Item Groups

Info

Publication number: US20140245147A1
Application number: US14/269,305
Authority: US
Inventors: Christopher M. Amidon; Gary W. Black
Original assignee: Napo Enterprises LLC
Current assignee: Concert Technology Corp
Priority date: 2008-03-24
Filing date: 2014-05-05
Publication date: 2014-08-28
Also published as: US20090240732A1; US8725740B2; CN101546589B; CN101546589A

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for creation and management of an active playlist having dynamic media item groups. In general, a number of media items to be used for the active playlist are first identified and classified into one or more media item groups based on a primary criterion and, optionally, one or more secondary criteria to provide an underlying pool of media items for the active playlist. The active playlist is then populated with media items from the underlying pool of media items. More specifically, the active playlist is divided into media item groups corresponding to those in the underlying pool of media items. Each media item group in the active playlist is populated with a predefined number of the media items in the corresponding media item group in the underlying pool of media items. Thereafter, the media items in the media item groups of the active playlist are dynamically updated based on user interactions.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/053,782 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,725,740), titled “Active Playlist Having Dynamic Media Item Groups”, filed on Mar. 24, 2008, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present invention relates to playlists and more particularly relates to creation and management of an active playlist having dynamic media item groups.

BACKGROUND

A playlist generally consists primarily of a list of media item identifiers, or references to the media items, defining a playback sequence for those media items. As an example, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary music playlist 10. For each song in the music playlist 10, the music playlist 10 includes a name or title of the song, a playback time or duration of the song, a name of an artist of the song, a name of an album on which the song was released, a genre of the song, and a rating of the song by one or more users. In this example, the songs in the music playlist 10 are sorted based on artist, album, or genre such that a number of songs by the artist “The Ramones” are listed at the beginning of the music playlist 10, and a number of songs by the artist “The Call” are listed at the end of the music playlist 10. One issue with the music playlist 10 is that if the user is not in the mood to listen to “The Ramones” but would rather listen to songs by “The Call,” the user must manually skip through a large number of songs in the music playlist 10. This is especially burdensome on a portable media player, such as an Apple® iPod. As such, there is a need for a method and associated systems for providing an improved playlist.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to creation and management of an active playlist having dynamic media item groups. In general, a number of media items to be used for the active playlist are first identified and classified into one or more media item groups based on a primary criterion and, optionally, one or more secondary criteria to provide an underlying pool of media items for the active playlist. The active playlist is then populated with media items from the underlying pool of media items. More specifically, the active playlist is divided into media item groups corresponding to those in the underlying pool of media items. Each media item group in the active playlist is populated with up to a predefined number of the media items in the corresponding media item group in the underlying pool of media items. Thereafter, the media items in the media item groups of the active playlist are dynamically updated based on user interactions.
In one embodiment, the underlying pool of media items is an underlying playlist of media items that is dynamically controlled to effectively provide the active playlist. More specifically, the media items in the underlying playlist of media items are arranged according to the media item groups. In order to provide the active playlist, for each of the media item groups, the underlying playlist is controlled such that a predefined number of the media items in the media item group are provided as the corresponding media item group of the active playlist while the remaining media items from the media item group are hidden. Thereafter, the media items provided as part of the active playlist for each of the media item groups are dynamically updated based on user interactions.
In operation, a user begins playback of the active playlist. As the user consumes the media items from one of the media item groups in the active playlist, other media items in the corresponding media item group in the underlying pool of media items are rotated into the media item group in the active playlist. If the user consumes all of the media items from the underlying pool of media items in a media item group, new media items may be identified and obtained for the media item group from a local or remote source. Alternatively, playback may proceed to the next media item group in the active playlist or playback of the media items in the media item group may be repeated. In one embodiment, if the user desires to skip to the next media item group in the playlist, the user must only skip through the media items in the active playlist for the media item group rather than all of the media items for the media item group in the underlying pool of media items. As such, the user may quickly and easily skip from one group of media items to another.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the present invention and realize additional aspects thereof after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments in association with the accompanying drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional playlist according to the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a process for creating an active playlist having one or more dynamic media item groups according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3 through 6 graphically illustrate the process of FIG. 2 according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a process for adding new media items to the underlying pool of media items for the active playlist and, in response, updating the active playlist according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a process for dynamically updating the active playlist based on user interactions according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 9 through 11 illustrate dynamic updating of an exemplary active playlist based on user interactions according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary system incorporating a playlist creation management function for creating and maintaining one or more active playlists having one or more dynamic media item groups according to one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the system of FIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments set forth below represent the necessary information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention and illustrate the best mode of practicing the invention. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the invention and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure and the accompanying claims.
The present invention relates to creation and management of an active playlist having dynamic media item groups. While much of the discussion below focuses on an active music playlist, the present invention is not limited thereto. The present invention is equally applicable to music playlists, video playlists, or the like. FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart for a process for creating an active playlist having dynamic media item groups according to one embodiment of the present invention. First, media items to be used for an active playlist are identified (step 100). The media items to be used for the active playlist may be, for example, a media collection of a user, a subset of a media collection of a user, media items available to a user from, for example, a streaming media server, media items available to the user for download from a media server, media items identified by one or more conventional playlists, media items obtained from or identified by other users such as media items recommended to the user from one or more other users, or the like.
The media items to be used for the active playlist may be identified by the user or may be identified programmatically. For example, the user may select a subset of media items from his or her media collection to be used for the active playlist. As another example, the media items may be programmatically identified by searching a user device of the user for all media items or media items satisfying one or more criteria. Alternatively, the media items to be used for the active playlist may be identified in some other fashion. For instance, in one embodiment, the media items for the active playlist may include media items recommended to the user and, optionally, media items from the user's own media collection. As an example, the media items for the active playlist may include media items from the user's own media collection and media items identified by recommendations received by the user in the manner described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/484,130, entitled P2P NETWORK FOR PROVIDING REAL TIME MEDIA RECOMMENDATIONS, which was filed on Jul. 11, 2006 and is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Once the media items for the active playlist are identified, the media items may optionally be sorted based on a primary criterion to provide a sorted list of media items (step 102). Next, metadata for a first media item from the sorted list of media items, or alternatively the group of media items identified for the active playlist, is obtained (step 104). The metadata generally includes information describing the media item. For example, if the media item is a song, the metadata may include a title of the song, a name of an artist of the song, an album on which the song was released, a genre of the song, a date of release of the song, a rating of the song, a score assigned to the song based on user preferences of the user, a date or time stamp indicating a date and/or time at which the song was last played, or the like.
Next, based on the metadata, a determination is made as to whether the media item matches an existing media item group (step 106). More specifically, one or more rules for creating media item groups are provided. The one or more rules may be embedded rules, user-defined rules, systematically determined rules, or the like. The rules for creating media item groups are defined based on the primary criterion and, optionally, one or more secondary criterion such as, for example, genre, artist, album, year of release, decade of release, or the like. The primary criterion may be, for example, a score assigned to each of the media items for the active playlist based on user preferences of the user, a rating assigned to each of the media items for the active playlist by the user, a rating assigned to each of the media items for the active playlist by another user or a group of users, a time and/or date at which the media item was last played by the user, or the like. Note, however, that the primary criterion is not limited thereto.
In one embodiment, the primary criterion is a score assigned to each of the media items for the active playlist based on user preferences of the user. Further, as an example, the rules for creating the media item groups may be that the media items in a media item group have scores within a score differential, or range, of five (5) points and that the media items in a media item group must be from the same genre. Thus, for example, if the desired score differential is five (5) points, the media item groups may be created for media items having a score differential of five (5) points and being from the same genre. Using this example, the determination is made as to whether the media item matches an existing media item group by determining whether the score assigned to the media item is within five (5) points of a highest scored media item in an existing media item group and is from the same genre as other media items in that existing media item group.
If the media item does not match an existing media item group or if no media item groups have been created (as would be the case if the media item is the first media item processed), then a new media item group is created and the media item is added to the new media item group (step 108). If the media item does match an existing media item group, then the media item is added to the existing media item group (step 110).
At this point, whether the media item was added to a new media item group or an existing media item group, a determination is made as to whether the media item is the last item in the sorted list, or alternatively the last media item in the media items identified for the active playlist (step 112). If not, metadata for a next media item is obtained (step 114). The process then returns to step 106 and is repeated. Once the last media item is processed, the resulting media item groups form what is referred to herein as an underlying pool of media items for the active playlist. The underlying pool of media items may be stored in any desired type and number of data structures. However, in one embodiment, the underlying pool of media items is stored as an underlying playlist including the media item groups or, alternatively, a number of underlying playlists where each underlying playlist corresponding to one of the media item groups.
The active playlist is then generated using the underlying pool of media items (step 116). More specifically, the active playlist is divided into media item groups corresponding to the media item groups in the underlying pool of media items. Each media item group in the active playlist is populated with up to a predetermined number of media items from the corresponding media item group in the underlying pool of media items. As an example, each media item group in the active playlist may be populated with two (2) media items from the corresponding media item group in the underlying pool of media items. Note that if a particular media item group in the underlying pool of media items includes only one media item, then the corresponding media item group in the active playlist will be populated using that one media item. As a final step, adjacent media item groups in the active playlist having the same, or substantially similar, values for one or more secondary criteria may optionally be identified and combined (step 118).
Note that while the discussion above discusses the underlying pool of media items separately from the active playlist, the underlying pool of media items and the active playlist may be implemented as a single dynamic playlist or similar data structure. For example, the underlying pool of media items may be implemented as an underlying playlist arranged or divided into the media item groups. The underlying playlist may then be dynamically controlled to effectively provide the active playlist. More specifically, for each media item group, the underlying playlist may be controlled such that up to the predefined number of media items are presented to the user for playback while the remaining media items in the media item groups are hidden. The underlying playlist is thereafter controlled based on user interactions to dynamically update the media item groups for the active playlist in the manner described below.
FIGS. 3 through 6 graphically illustrate the process of FIG. 2 according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary list 12 of media items, which in this example are songs, to be used to dynamically populate an active playlist according to one embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the list 12 is sorted based on the primary criteria, which in this example is score.
FIG. 4 illustrates an underlying pool of media items 14 generated by classifying the media items in the list 12 (FIG. 3) into media item groups according to one embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the media item groups were created based on a score differential of five (5) points and using genre as a secondary criterion. As such, a first media item group (Group 1) includes nine (9) songs from the Rock genre having scores in the range of 55-60, which is a score differential of five (5) points relative to the score of the highest scored media item in the first media item group (Group 1). A second media item group (Group 2) includes seven (7) songs from the Gospel & Religious genre having scores in the range of 55-60, which is a score differential of five (5) points relative to the score of the highest scored media item in the second media item group (Group 2). A third media item group (Group 3) includes three (3) songs from the Rock genre having scores in the range of 45-50, which is a score differential of five (5) points relative to the score of the highest scored media item in the third media item group (Group 3). Group scores for each of the media item groups may be provided by, for example, averaging the scores of the media items in the media item groups. As an example, the group scores may be used to sort the media item groups in the active playlist.
FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary active playlist 16 populated using the underlying pool of media items 14 of FIG. 4 according to one embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated, the active playlist 16 is arranged or divided into media item groups corresponding to those in the underlying pool of media items 14. For each media item group, the active playlist 16 is populated with a predetermined number of media items from the underlying pool of media items 14. In this example, each media item group of the active playlist 16 is populated with two (2) media items from the corresponding media item group of the underlying pool of media items 14. As such, for the first media item group (Group 1), the active playlist 16 is populated with the two highest scored media items in the first media item group (Group 1) from the underlying pool of media items 14. The second and third media item groups (Group 2 and Group 3) of the active playlist 16 are populated in a similar fashion. Also, in this example, for each of the media item groups (Group 1 through Group 3), the active playlist 16 includes information indicating the number of media items for that media item group remaining in the underlying pool of media items 14 and information related thereto such as, for example, total playback time, average score, artist name, and album name.
FIG. 6 illustrates an active playlist 16′ where the media item groups in the underlying pool of media items 14 are defined by a score differential, or range, of ten (10) rather than five (5). As a result, the first media item group (Group 1) includes media items from the Rock genre having scores in the range of 50-60, and the second media item group (Group 2) includes media items from the Gospel & Religious genre having scores in the range of 50-60. For the first media item group (Group 1), the active playlist 16′ is populated with the two highest scored media items in the first media item group (Group 1) from the underlying pool of media items 14. Likewise, for the second media item group (Group 2), the active playlist 16′ is populated with the two highest scored media items in the second media item group (Group 2) from the underlying pool of media items 14. Note that, in one embodiment, the rules defining the media item groups are user configurable and may be changed at any time. When such a change is made, the underlying pool of media items 14 and the active playlist 16′ are updated accordingly.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process for adding new media items to be used in populating the active playlist according to one embodiment of the present invention. First, one or more new media items to be used for the active playlist are identified (step 200). The new media items may be media items identified by the user, new media items programmatically identified, or the like. For example, if the media items to be used for the active playlist include all media items in a user's media collection, the new media items may be programmatically identified when the user adds the new media items to his or her media collection. As another example, if the media items to be used for the active playlist are a subset of the user's media collection, the new media items may be identified by the user.
Once the new media items for the active playlist are identified, metadata for a first media item from the one or more new media items is obtained (step 202). Next, based on the metadata, a determination is made as to whether the media item matches an existing media item group (step 204). If the media item does not match an existing media item group, then a new media item group is created in the underlying pool of media items for the active playlist, and the media item is added to the new media item group (step 206). If the media item does match an existing media item group, then the media item is added to the existing media item group in the underlying pool of media items for the active playlist (step 208).
At this point, whether the media item was added to a new media item group or an existing media item group, a determination is made as to whether the media item is the last new media item (step 210). If not, metadata for a next media item is obtained (step 212). The process then returns to step 204 and is repeated. Once the last new media item is processed, the active playlist is updated based on the underlying pool of media items (step 214). More specifically, if any new media item groups have been created, the active playlist is updated to include the new media item groups, and the new media item groups are populated from the underlying pool of media items in the manner described above. In addition, any new media items added to the existing media item groups are reflected in the active playlist. As a final step, adjacent media item groups in the active playlist having the same, or substantially similar, values for one or more secondary criteria may optionally be identified and combined (step 216).
Thus far, the discussion has focused on the creation of an active playlist and the updating of the active playlist in response to the addition of new media items for use in the active playlist. FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a process for dynamically updating the active playlist based on user interactions according to one embodiment of the present invention. First, user interactions are monitored (step 300). The user interactions may be, for example, consuming a media item in the active playlist, consuming a threshold amount of a media item in the active playlist, skipping over a media item in the active playlist, or the like. Next, the active playlist is updated based on the user interactions (step 302).
The manner in which the active playlist is updated depends on the particular user interaction. A first type of user interaction is consuming a media item, or a threshold amount of a media item, in the active playlist. As used herein, consuming a media item refers to listening to the media item if the media item is a song or similar audio content, viewing the media item if the media item is a video or similar visual or audio-visual content, or the like. When a user has consumed a media item, or a threshold amount of a media item, in the active playlist, the active playlist is updated by adding or pulling an additional media item from the corresponding media item group from the underlying pool of media items into the active playlist. Once a media item is consumed, that media item may or may not be removed from the active playlist. Once the user has consumed all of the media items in a media item group in the underlying pool of media items, playback may proceed to the next media item group in the active playlist. Alternatively, the media items for the media item group may be repeated. Note that if pulling an additional media item for the media item group from the underlying pool of media items into the active playlist is triggered by consumption of a defined amount of a media item, that amount may be system-defined or user-defined. For example, a trigger may be provided such that pulling an additional media item into the active playlist occurs after the user has consumed 30 seconds of a media item in a particular media item group.
In addition, if the user interactions indicate that the user is expected to consume all of the media items in the underlying pool of media items for a media item group, new media items for the media item group may be identified and obtained from a local source and/or a remote source. The rules for determining when to trigger identifying and obtaining new media items for the media item groups may be system-defined or user-defined. For example, an amount of time may be defined such that if the user consumes media items in a media item group for the defined amount of time, then identifying and obtaining new media items for that media item group is triggered. As another example, an amount of time may be defined such that if the total playback time for the remaining media items of a media item group in the underlying pool of media items is equal to or less than the defined amount of time, then identifying and obtaining new media items for the media item group may be triggered.
The manner in which new media items for a media item group are identified and obtained may vary depending on the source(s) from which the new media items are to be obtained. For example, if the media items used for the active playlist are only a subset of the user's media collection, the user's media collection may be searched for additional media items matching the media item group. In addition or alternatively, new media items may be obtained from a remote source. As an example, a query for media items matching the desired media item group may be provided to a remote media distribution service such as, for example, the Apple® iTunes media store, RealNetwork's Rhapsody® media distribution service, the YouTube video sharing website, or the like. In response, the media distribution service may then identify media items satisfying the query and enable download and, if necessary, purchase of one or more media items matching the desired media item group. Note that other types of remote sources of media content may additionally or alternatively be queried. For example, a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network enabling sharing of media content may be queried. Also note that the sources used to find new media items may be system-defined or user-defined.
A second type of user interaction is skipping over one or more media items in the active playlist. If the user skips over the media items in a media item group of the active playlist, playback proceeds to the next media item group. The user is not required to skip through all of the media items in the underlying pool of media times before proceeding to the next media item group in the active playlist. Thus, for example, if two (2) media items are included in the active playlist for a media item group, the user must only skip through those two media items before proceeding to the next media item group in the active playlist. Note, however, that if the user consumes a media item in the active playlist for a threshold amount of time triggering pulling of a new media item into the corresponding media item group of the active playlist, the user may also be required to also skip over this new media item in order to skip to the next media item group in the active playlist.
A third type of user interaction is a user interaction relative to one of the media item groups, or all of the media item groups, in the active playlist. For example, the user may choose to re-sort the media items in a media item group based on a criterion such as title, artist name, album name, user rating, score, or the like. As such, the media items in the underlying pool of media items for the media item group are sorted as requested by the user. The media item group in the active playlist is then updated based on the sorted media items in the corresponding media item group of the underlying pool of media items. In a similar fashion, the user may request that the media items within all of the media item groups in the active playlist be sorted in a particular manner (e.g., title, artist name, album name, user rating, score, or the like), in which case the media items for all of the media item groups in the underlying pool of media items are sorted. The active playlist is then updated accordingly.
FIGS. 9 through 11 illustrate the exemplary active playlist 16 of FIG. 5 as the active playlist 16 is updated in response to user interactions according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 illustrates the active playlist 16 in an initial state at some point in time after creation of the active playlist 16. If the user then listens to the first song, “Since You're Gone,” in the first media item group (Group 1), or a predefined amount thereof, another media item for the first media item group (Group 1) is pulled from the underlying pool of media items 14 (FIG. 4) into the first media item group (Group 1) of the active playlist 16, as illustrated in FIG. 10. In this example, the media item pulled into the first media item group (Group 1) of the active playlist 16 is the song “Heartbeat City.” Note that, in this example, the song “Since You're Gone” remains in the active playlist 16 after being consumed, or listened to, by the user. However, after consumption by the user, the song “Since You're Gone” may alternatively be removed from the active playlist 16. This may be beneficial where it is desirable for the user to be enabled to quickly skip to a previous media item group in the active playlist 16 in a manner similar to that in which the user is enabled to quickly skip to a next media item group in the active playlist 16.
FIG. 11 illustrates the scenario where the user has consumed or is about to consume all of the media items in the first media item group (Group 1) from the underlying pool of media items 14 (FIG. 4). More specifically, in this example, the active playlist 16 provides an indication to the user that no more media items are available for the first media item group (Group 1) beyond those that are already in the active playlist 16. In this case, after playback of the last media item in the first media item group (Group 1), which in this example is the song “Tonight She Comes,” playback may proceed to the second media item group (Group 2). Alternatively, new media items may be identified and obtained from a local or remote source, as described above. As another alternative, playback of the media items for the first media item group (Group 1) may be repeated. Note that whether playback proceeds to the next media item group, new media items are identified and obtained, or playback of the media items in current media item group are repeated may be a user preference configured by the user.
FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary system for providing an active playlist having dynamically updated media item groups according to one embodiment of the present invention. In general, the system is a user device 18 such as, for example, a personal computer, a portable media player such as an Apple® iPod, or any other user device having media playback capabilities. The user device 18 includes a media player 20 and a local collection of media items 22. The media player 20 may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. In operation, the media player 20 operates to provide playback of the local collection of media items 22. Note that the media player 20 may additionally or alternatively provide playback of streaming media content from a streaming media server. In this embodiment, a playlist creation and management function 24 is implemented within the media player 20 and operates to create and manage one or more active playlists having dynamic media item groups according to the present invention. More specifically, as discussed above, the media items in the local collection of media items 22, or some subset thereof, are identified as media items for an active playlist. The media items are classified into one or more media item groups to provide an underlying pool of media items for the active playlist. The active playlist is arranged or divided into media item groups corresponding to those in the underlying pool of media items. The media item groups of the active playlist are then populated from the media items in the corresponding media item groups in the underlying pool of media items. Thereafter, the media item groups in the active playlist are dynamically updated, as described above.
FIG. 13 is a block diagram of the user device 18 of FIG. 12 according to one embodiment of the present invention. In general, the user device 18 includes a control system 26 having associated memory 28. In this embodiment, the media player 20 including the playlist creation and management function 24 is implemented in software and stored in the memory 28. The user device 18 may also include one or more digital storage devices 30 such as one or more hard disk drives, one or more removable memory devices, or the like. In one embodiment, the local collection of media items 22 is stored in the one or more digital storage devices 30. Alternatively, all or a portion of the local collection of media items 22 may be stored in the memory 28. The user device 18 also preferably includes one or more communication interfaces 32. The one or more communication interfaces 32 may include, for example, a Bluetooth local wireless interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, a FireWire interface, or the like, which may be beneficial for connecting the user device 18 to an associated local system. For example, if the user device 18 is a portable media player, such a communication interface may be used to connect the user device 18 to a personal computer or the like in order to, for instance, obtain new media content. The one or more communication interfaces 32 may also include, for example, an IEEE 802.11x wireless interface, a wireless telecommunications interface, or the like, which may be used to connect to remote devices or systems via a network. This type of communication interface may be beneficial where it is desirable for the user device 18 to obtain new media items from a remote system such as, for example, a remote system hosting a media distribution service. Lastly, the user device 18 includes a user interface 34, which includes components such as one or more user input devices, a display, one or more speakers, or the like.
Note that while FIGS. 12 and 13 discuss the present invention as being implemented on a user device, the present invention is not limited thereto. The playlist creation and management function 24 for creating and managing one or more active playlists having one or more dynamic media item groups may be implemented on any type of system where playlists are desirable. For example, the playlist creation and management function 24 may alternatively be implemented on a central server providing streaming playback of media items in a playlist to a user at a remote user device. Numerous other types of systems in which the playlist creation and management function 24 may be implemented will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon reading this disclosure and are to be considered within the scope of the present invention.
Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the preferred embodiments of the present invention. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein and the claims that follow.

Claims

1. A method of operating a media player device comprising the steps of:

identifying a plurality of media item groups based on a primary criterion, the media item groups collectively consisting of a subset of a media item pool;

for each of the plurality of media item groups, selecting a subset of the media items from the corresponding media item group as representative media items;

forming a playlist consisting of the plurality of media item groups;

displaying the playlist, wherein only the representative media items are displayed;

in response to a current media item from a current media item group being rendered without interruption, updating the subset of representative media items for the current media item group;

in response to the current media item from the current media item group not being rendered due to an interruption, not updating the subset of representative media items for the current media item group, selecting a next media item group as the new current media item group, and selecting a media item from the new current media item group as the new current media item.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the primary criterion comprises a criterion selected from a group consisting of: a score assigned to each of the plurality of media item groups based on preferences, a rating assigned to each of the plurality of media item groups, a time at which each of the plurality of media item groups was last played, a date on which each of the plurality of media item groups was lasted played, and a date and time on which each of the plurality of media item groups was last played.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising classifying a plurality of media items into the plurality of media item groups based on the primary criterion and one or more secondary criteria to form the plurality of media item groups for the playlist.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of media item groups is provided such that at least one media item from the plurality of media item groups is classified in each of the plurality of media item groups, and forming the playlist comprises forming the playlist such that the playlist is divided into a plurality of media item groups.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein forming the playlist further comprises, for each media item group of the plurality of media item groups in the playlist, populating the media item group with up to a predetermined number of media items in a corresponding media item group of the plurality of media item groups.

6. The method of claim 4 further comprising enabling the skipping of playback from a first media item group of the plurality of media item groups in the playlist to a second media item group of the plurality of media item groups subsequent to the first media item group in the playlist.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein enabling the skipping of playback from the first media item group to the second media item group in the playlist comprises enabling the skipping of playback from the first media item group to the second media item group in the playlist by skipping through up to a predetermined number of media items in the playlist for the first media item group rather than all media items from the plurality of media items classified in the first media item group.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

monitoring interactions with the playlist; and

dynamically updating the playlist based on the interactions.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein dynamically updating the playlist comprises pulling additional media items from a media item group of the plurality of media item groups into the playlist as media items in the playlist from the media item group are consumed.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein pulling the additional media items into the media item group of the playlist comprises pulling an additional media item from the media item group into the playlist in response to consumption of one of a group consisting of: a media item in the playlist from the media item group and a predetermined amount of a media item in the playlist from the media item group.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein dynamically updating the playlist further comprises removing consumed media items from the playlist.

12. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

making a determination, based on the interactions, as to whether all media items in a media item group of the plurality of media item are expected to be consumed; and

identifying and obtaining one or more new media items for the media item group if the determination is made that the all media items in the media item group are expected to be consumed.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein identifying and obtaining the one or more new media items comprises obtaining the one or more new media items from at least one of a group consisting of: a local source and a remote source.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing playback of the playlist under control of an associated user.

15. A system comprising:

an interface providing playback of a playlist; and

a control system, associated with the interface, and configured to:

identify a plurality of media item groups based on a primary criterion, the media item groups collectively consisting of a subset of a media item pool;

for each of the plurality of media item groups, select a subset of the media items from the corresponding media item group as representative media items;

form a playlist consisting of the plurality of media item groups;

display the playlist, wherein only the representative media items are displayed;

in response to a current media item from a current media item group being rendered without interruption, update the subset of representative media items for the current media item group;

in response to the current media item from the current media item group not being rendered due to an interruption, not update the subset of representative media items for the current media item group, select a next media item group as the new current media item group, and select a media item from the new current media item group as the new current media item.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the primary criterion comprises a criterion selected from a group consisting of: a score assigned to each of the plurality of media item groups based on user preferences, a rating assigned to each of the plurality of media item groups, a time at which each of the plurality of media item groups was last played, a date on which each of the plurality of media item groups was lasted played, and a date and time on which each of the plurality of media item groups was last played.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein the control system is further configured to classify a plurality of media items into the plurality of media item groups based on the primary criterion and one or more secondary criteria to form the plurality of media item groups for the playlist.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein the plurality of media item groups is provided such that at least one media item from the plurality of media item groups is classified in each of the plurality of media item groups, and in forming the playlist, the control system is configured to form the playlist such that the playlist is divided into a plurality of media item groups.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein in forming the playlist, the control system is configured to: for each media item group of the plurality of media item groups in the playlist, populate the media item group with up to a predetermined number of media items in a corresponding media item group of the plurality of media item groups.

20. The system of claim 18 wherein the control system is further configured to enable the skipping of playback from a first media item group of the plurality of media item groups in the playlist to a second media item group of the plurality of media item groups subsequent to the first media item group in the playlist.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein in enabling the skipping of playback from the first media item group to the second media item group in the playlist, the control system is configured to enable the skipping of playback from the first media item group to the second media item group in the playlist by skipping through up to a predetermined number of media items in the playlist for the first media item group rather than all media items from the plurality of media items classified in the first media item group.

22. The system of claim 15 where in the control system is further configured to:

monitor interactions with the playlist; and

dynamically update the playlist based on the interactions.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein in dynamically updating the playlist, the control system is configured to pull additional media items from a media item group of the plurality of media item groups into the playlist as media items in the playlist from the media item group are consumed.

24. The system of claim 23 wherein in pulling the additional media items into the media item group of the playlist, the control system is configured to pull an additional media item from the media item group into the playlist in response to consumption of one of a group consisting of: a media item in the playlist from the media item group and a predetermined amount of a media item in the playlist from the media item group.

25. The system of claim 23 wherein in dynamically updating the playlist, the control system is further configured to remove consumed media items from the playlist.

26. The system of claim 23 wherein the control system is further configured to:

make a determination, based on the interactions, as to whether all media items in a media item group of the plurality of media item groups are expected to be consumed; and

identify and obtain one or more new media items for the media item group if the determination is made that the all media items in the media item group are expected to be consumed.

27. The system of claim 26 wherein in identifying and obtaining the one or more new media items, the control system is configured to obtain the one or more new media items from at least one of a group consisting of: a local source and a remote source.

28. A method of operating a media player device comprising the steps of:

identifying a plurality of media item groups based on a primary criterion, the media item groups collectively consisting of a subset of media items of a media item collection;

for each of the plurality of media item groups, designating a subset of the media items from the respective media item group as representative media items and a distinct subset of media items from the respective media item group as underlying media items;

forming a playlist consisting of the representative media items from the plurality of media item groups; and

enabling playback of the playlist such that:

uninterrupted playback of the playlist proceeds sequentially to the next representative media item of a first media item group, wherein the representative media items of the first media item group are updated from the underlying media items of the first media item group, and

interrupted playback of the playlist proceeds to a representative media item of a second media item group, wherein the representative media items of the second media item group are updated from the underlying media items of the second media item group, and the updating of the representative media items of the first media item group is suspended.

29. A system comprising:

an interface providing playback of a playlist; and

a control system, associated with the interface, and configured to:

identify a plurality of media item groups based on a primary criterion, the media item groups collectively consisting of a subset of media items of a media item collection;

for each of the plurality of media item groups, designate a subset of the media items from the respective media item group as representative media items and a distinct subset of media items from the respective media item group as underlying media items;

form a playlist consisting of the representative media items from the plurality of media item groups; and

enable playback of the playlist such that: