JP2002215173A - Method and system for publishing singing using telecommunication network or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for publishing singing which enables the publication of own singing easily and widely. SOLUTION: The method for publishing singing using a telecommunication network or the like, includes a step in which a musical composition data file (11) which contains musical composition data containing at least music data and lyric data, respectively, is stored in a second server (30) from a first server (10) through a telecommunication network (20), a step in which the musical composition data file (31) stored in the second server (30) is stored in a player/ recorder (40) through the telecommunication network (20), a step in which music data and/or lyric data selected from the musical composition data file stored in the player/recorder (40) are played back and singing data indicating a user is stored in the player/recorder, a step in which the singing data are stored in the second server (30) together with user identification information, and a step in which a third person is enabled to use the singing data and the user identification information stored in the second server (30) through the telecommunication network (20).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for publishing a song to the public, a specific member and / or a specific organization via a communication network such as the Internet, and to implement such a method. Related to the song release system. The present invention also relates to a method and a system for allowing one's singing to be published via a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It has been common practice to publish songs, lyrics and / or songs sung by oneself over the Internet. However, publishing in this manner requires a considerable amount of knowledge about computers and communication networks and a considerable expense in software and equipment to build the necessary systems. Cost.

[0003] In addition, a karaoke apparatus having a recording function installed in a game center or an amusement center or the like is used to record one's own singing on a recording medium such as a CD-R. It has already been done that specific third parties etc. make them publicly available for evaluation. However, in such a method, the range of disclosure is limited, and the number of songs that can be used for singing the song is also limited.

[0004]

As described above, the conventional singing publishing method and system have a problem that it is still difficult for general users to utilize and publishing is not sufficient. .

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a singing publishing method which makes it possible to publish one's own singing easily and widely.

[0006] Another object of the present invention is to provide a song publishing system for implementing the above method.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a song data file containing at least one song data each containing at least song data and lyrics data is transmitted from a first server via a communication network. Storing the music data file stored in the second server via a communication network.
Storing in at least one player / recorder installed in at least one site; reproducing music data and / or lyrics data selected from music data files stored in the player / recorder; Storing the singing data representing the singing of the user / recorder in the player / recorder, and transmitting the singing data together with the identification information of the user from the player / recorder to the second server via a communication network and storing the singing data. And making the singing data and the user identification information stored in the second server available to a third party via a communication network. A singing publishing method used is provided.

[0008] According to the above method, the user can easily and widely open his / her own song via a communication network.

[0009] In the above method, the step of making the song data available to the third party may include transmitting the singing data and the user identification information stored in the second server to the first server via a communication network. May be further stored. According to this method, the user can have his or her singing evaluated by the organization that manages the first server.

[0010] The method may further include a step of recording the singing data stored in the player / recorder on a recording medium. According to this method, the user can publish his / her singing via the recording medium and be evaluated.

In the above method, the step of recording the singing data on a recording medium may further include the step of printing the user identification information on the recording medium.

In the above method, the song data may be in a PCM data format, and the singing data transmitted to the second server may be in a compressed data format. According to this method, the third party can obtain the desired singing data from the first server in a short time, and the load on the first and second servers due to the transfer of the singing data is reduced. In this case, the singing data recorded on the recording medium can remain high quality.

According to a second feature of the present invention, a first server storing a music data file including at least one music data each including at least music data and lyrics data; A second server for storing the music data file via a communication network, and at least one of storing a music data file stored on the second server via a communication network;
At least one player / recorder installed at one site, wherein the player / recorder reproduces music data and / or lyrics data selected from the music data file stored in the player / recorder. And storing song data representing the song of the user of the player / recorder, wherein the second server transmits the song data stored in the player / recorder to the communication network together with the identification information of the user. Communication network or the like configured to store the song data and the user identification information stored in the second server to a third party via a communication network. A singing publishing system is provided.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining an outline of a system for implementing a song publishing method according to the present invention. In this figure, a music database server 10 is a server managed by a specific music management organization, and a storage device of the server stores a plurality of music data each including at least music data and lyrics data. The music database server 10 is connected to a communication network 20 such as the Internet, for example. The music distribution / singing publishing server 30 is a server managed by an administrator of the system, and is a specific music data selected from a plurality of music data stored in the music database server 10 based on a certain standard. Is downloaded via the communication network 20 at regular intervals. The music distribution / singing publishing server 30 can provide the specific music data stored in the storage device to the general user 50 and / or the specific subscriber 60 via the communication network 20.

The player / recorder 40 is installed in, for example, a karaoke box or another facility, and transmits the specific music data stored in the music distribution / singing publishing server 30 via the communication network 20 at regular intervals. To download. These players / recorders 4
0 can reproduce the music selected from the specific music data by the user, that is, the singer. The player / recorder 40 stores the singer's singing performed along with the reproduction of the selected music as singing data, and stores the stored singing data in a CD in response to the singer's request. −R or the like on a recording medium 70.

Each player / recorder 40, 40,
.., Each song data stored as described above, together with the corresponding singer's identification information, is transmitted from the music distribution / singing publishing server 30 via the communication network 20 at regular intervals.
Upload to. The server 30 uploads the singing data and the singer's identification information uploaded in this way to the music database server 10 via the communication network 20, and also transmits the singing data to the general user 50 and / or the subscriber 60. Make it public.

In the system having the above-described configuration, for example, a certain subscriber 60 who has become a member of the administrator of the system, for example, has a music distribution / singing publishing server via his / her PC or the like via the communication network 20. The server 30 accesses the server 30 and downloads data of favorite songs (songs and lyrics) from the song data stored in the server 30, and practices singing based on the downloaded song data. As another method, the subscriber 60 goes to a karaoke box in which the player / recorder 40 is installed, selects a desired song (song and lyrics) from song data stored in the player / recorder, and reproduces the song. Practice singing.

Next, the subscriber 60 uses the player / recorder 40 to store (record) his / her singing while playing back the favorite music. The subscriber 60 records his / her own song stored in this manner on the player / recorder 40.
Thus, the data can be recorded on the storage medium 70. Thus, the subscriber 60 can publish his / her singing via the storage medium 70 to, for example, his / her friend and have the singing be evaluated.

If the subscriber 60 wishes to make his / her singing stored in the player / recorder 40 public via a communication network, the subscriber 60 inputs his / her membership number to the player / recorder 40, for example. At the same time, a command to request disclosure is input to the player / recorder.

The music distribution / singing publishing server 30 receives, from the player / recorder 40, the singing data and the member number of the subscriber 40 who has been instructed to be released, and transmits the singing data and the member number to the music database server 10. In addition to uploading, the general user 50 and the subscriber 60 can listen through the communication network 20. Thus, the subscriber 60 having stored the singing can open his singing to general users and subscribers, and can be evaluated by these persons. The singing of the subscriber 60 can also be evaluated by an organization that manages the music database server 10.

Next, the above-mentioned system will be described in more detail with reference to specific examples.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a system to which the song publishing method according to the present invention is applied in detail up to a music data distribution process. The song database server 10 in FIG. 1 stores a song data file 11 relating to a plurality of songs (for example, 50 songs) selected according to a certain standard. The song data file 11 includes, for each song, song data representing the song in a PCM type WAV data format, lyrics data representing lyrics in a text data format, composer data representing a photograph of a composer in a JPG data format, Lyricist data representing the photograph of the lyricist in the JPG data format, arranger data representing the photographer of the arranger in the JPG data format, writer comments representing the comments of the writer (composer, lyricist, and arranger) in the text data format; It includes provisional song data and the like representing an exemplary singing of a song in a WAV data format. This music data file 11
Is successively updated with new music data.

The organization that manages the music database server 10 recruits new songs and lyrics from the members 100 (including amateur composers, lyricists, etc.) of the organization via the communication network 20, for example. Is evaluated based on voting and the like by the member 100 via the communication network 20, and data of songs (songs and lyrics) having this evaluation exceeding a certain level is regarded as new song data. By adding, the music data file 11 can be updated. As another example, the organization that manages the music database server 10 can naturally form the music data file 11 using popular commercial music.

The music distribution / singing publishing server 30 stores a copy of the music data file 11 of the music database server 10 in its own music data file 31. For this purpose, the music distribution / singing publishing server 30 accesses the music data file 11 via the communication network 20 at regular intervals (for example, at midnight every day), and newly updates the file when the file is updated. It updates its own music data file 31 by downloading the added music data. Music distribution / singing public server 3
0 copies the music data stored in the music data file 31 to the WEB file 33 used for the homepage (HP) 32 of the server.
As for the song data and the temporary song data in the data format, the data format is converted by the format converter 34 into, for example, a stream data format.

The subscriber 60 who is a member of the system administrator can access the server 30 via the communication network 20 and refer to the homepage 32 through a certain authentication procedure by the authentication unit 35. If necessary, the user can listen to or download music data of a desired music from the WEB file 33. In this case, it is assumed that the general user 50 can also access the limited information on the homepage 32.

In the above configuration, the music database server 10 holds a music data file 11 containing various data relating to each of a plurality of music, and sequentially updates the music data file 11. The music distribution / singing publishing server 30 regularly stores the latest copy as the music data file 31 by periodically downloading the music data file 11. The music data file 31 is copied to the WEB file 33, and a part thereof is copied as stream data. This WE
The contents of the B file 33 are disclosed to the subscribers 60 and / or general users 50 accessing the homepage 32 via the communication network 20.

On the other hand, the players / recorders 40, 40,... Installed at a plurality of sites such as karaoke boxes regularly (for example, at midnight every day) use the communication network 2
0, download the music data file 31 by accessing the music distribution / singing public server 30, and select and listen to or sing the user's favorite music from the latest music files. To be able to

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the player / recorder 40. Player / Recorder 40
Has a control unit 41 such as a microprocessor, and the control unit 41 controls each unit of the player / recorder 40 based on the control signal CNT. Communication interface 42 in the player / recorder 40
Is connected to the communication network 20 via a high-speed communication line such as ISDN or ADSL. The music data file 31 periodically downloaded from the music distribution / singing publishing server 30 via the communication interface 42 according to a command from the control unit 41 is stored in the temporary storage hard disk 43. The music data file stored in the hard disk 43 is stored in the backup hard disk 4 in preparation for a failure.
4 is regularly copied. A keyboard 45, a plurality of function keys 46, and a monitor 47 are connected to the control unit 41. The control unit 41 controls each unit of the player / recorder 40 according to a predetermined control program.
A keyboard 45 and a function key 4 that the user performs according to the menu screen and other screens displayed above
6 is controlled according to the operation. The function keys 46 include, for example, a tempo control key for controlling a tempo for playing a song, a key control key for controlling a key for playing a song, a user identification number, and other information. Information input keys to enter, scoring keys to enter the singing score, fast reverse, pause and fast forward keys to control the playback of songs, provisional songs or stored singing, etc., to control the menu , A recording command key for commanding recording on a recording medium, a public command key, and the like. FIG. 4 shows an example of a menu screen displayed on the monitor 47 based on the music data file stored in the temporary storage hard disk 43.

The music data, lyrics data, temporary song data, etc., of the music data selected by the user on the menu screen, are temporarily stored on the hard disk 43 for temporary storage.
Is copied to the hard disk 48 for reproduction. Of the data thus copied to the hard disk 48,
When reproduction of the temporary song (“listening to the temporary song”) is instructed by the user, the temporary song data is converted to the power amplifier 51 after the D / A conversion.
And reproduced by the speaker 52.

When the user instructs singing practice ("practice") or recording (for example, "take 1"), the song data is read out from the hard disk 48 at the selected tempo and selected. After being D / A-converted according to the key, it is supplied to the power amplifier 51.
The music signal amplified by the power amplifier 51 is supplied to a plurality of headphones 54, 5 through a headphone distributor 53.
4, and are reproduced. In parallel with this, the lyrics data in the hard disk 48 is also supplied to the character generator 56 in accordance with the tempo. The lyrics data converted into the character pattern by the character generation unit 56 is displayed on the monitor 47 as character information by a known method.

When the user instructs to record a song, the music data read from the hard disk 48 is also supplied to a mixing stage 58. A singing signal picked up by one or more microphones 59, 59,... At the time of singing by the user is amplified by a microphone amplifier 65. , Ie, singing raw data. The singing raw data is mixed with the music data in the mixing stage 58 and stored as singing data on the temporary recording hard disk 62. In this case, the identification information of the singer is also stored in the hard disk 62 in association with the singing data.
The singing data stored in the hard disk 62 can be recorded on a storage medium 70 such as a CD-R by a recorder 63 and converted into a compressed data format by an MP3 converter 64, for example. Along with the singer's identification information (including a photo or the like).

The user who sings can take a photograph with the electronic still camera 66 (the photographed photograph can be confirmed on the monitor 47), and the image information of the photograph is, for example, a JPG converter 67. After that, it is supplied to the communication interface 42 and the label printer 68 together with other identification information of the user. In this case, the label printer 68 can further input singer identification information from the temporary recording hard disk 62 and information such as a song title from the reproduction hard disk 48, in addition to the image information. Then, the label printer 68 can print a photograph of the user on the label of the storage medium 70 together with identification information such as a singer's name, a song title, and other information (for example, a selected background image).

Next, the operation of the player / recorder 40 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 4 shows the music files stored on the temporary storage hard disk 43 as the first six songs P-001 to P-006.
13 shows a menu screen displayed on the monitor 47.
For each song column, a column for displaying the song title, a column for instructing whether or not to listen to temporary songs, a column for instructing whether or not to practice singing,
3 fields for commanding whether or not to record the song, a field for displaying the selected song from among the recorded songs, a field for instructing whether or not to play and check the selected song, select A column for displaying the length of time of the selected singing, a column for displaying the identification information of the singer, and a column for instructing whether or not to release the selected singing are included. The user follows the menu,
A desired selection or command is performed by operating the corresponding numeric keypad 45 and function key 46, and the display color of the column corresponding to the selected or commanded item is changed accordingly for confirmation. ing.

For example, when the user instructs to listen to the temporary song of the first song P-001, the temporary song data of the song P-001 is transferred from the temporary storage hard disk 43 to the reproduction hard disk 4.
8 is copied. The temporary song data is read out at a predetermined tempo and key, reproduced by the power amplifier 51 and reproduced from the speaker 52.

For example, when the user instructs to practice the music P-001, the music data and the lyrics data of the music P-001 are copied to the reproduction hard disk 48. In this case, the music data is read out according to the selected tempo and key, amplified by the power amplifier 51, and then reproduced by the headphones 54, 54,. The lyrics data is also read out from the hard disk 48 at the above tempo and displayed on the monitor 47 as character information. The user (one or more) listens to the music reproduced by the headphones 54 and practices singing while watching the lyrics displayed on the monitor 47.

For example, when the user instructs to perform the first recording of the singing, in addition to the above-described operation in the practice,
The singing picked up by the microphones 59, 59 and the song data read from the hard disk 48 are mixed in the mixing stage 58 and stored in the temporary recording hard disk 62. The same operation is performed for the second and subsequent recordings, and a plurality of singing data are stored in the hard disk 62.

For example, when the user instructs to select, for example, a second recording from the singing data stored as described above for recording and / or opening, the monitor 47
At the same time, the corresponding column of the menu is displayed to that effect, and at the same time, the corresponding song data in the temporary recording hard disk 62 is flagged to that effect. In this case, the user inputs his / her identification information (for example, the member number of the system or his / her name) using the keyboard 45 and the function keys 46. The entered identification information is
At the same time as being displayed in the corresponding column of the menu on the monitor 47, it is added to the singing data in the hard disk 62 to which the flag has been added.

For example, when the user issues a command to reproduce and select the singing data selected as described above, the singing data is read from the temporary recording hard disk 62 and amplified by the power amplifier 51. Thereafter, the data is reproduced from the speaker 52.

As described above, it is assumed that the user has recorded singing for a plurality of songs, for example, and has selected any of the recorded singing to be recorded and / or disclosed.

Here, when the user instructs to record the selected song on the storage medium 70 ("CD mastering"), a menu as shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 5, the singing data of three songs selected by the user (a plurality of users) is recorded as a track to be recorded, a symbol (title) representing the song, a time length of each song, identification information of the singer, and the like. Is shown. In this case, the user can use the keyboard 45 and the function keys 46 to freely select, in a known manner, which song is to be recorded on which track, and which of the selected singing data is actually used. Can be further selected. When such a selection is completed, the user operates the corresponding function key 46 to start recording ("start CD writing"). Then, the selected singing data stored in the temporary recording hard disk 62 is read out in the selected order and supplied to the recorder 63. The recorder 63 records the singing data on a recording medium 70 such as a CD-R inserted in the recorder. Further, the label printer 68 prints other information of the user's photograph and music data determined by the preview on the label of the recording medium 7.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the above-mentioned embodiment of the system to which the singing publishing method according to the present invention is applied in detail with respect to the singing data publishing process. Players / recorders 40 installed on sites such as karaoke boxes
The hard disk 62 for temporary recording of the player / recorder 40 is provided at regular intervals (for example, at midnight every day).
Among the singing data recorded in (see FIG. 3), the singing data to which a flag for publicizing is added is transmitted to the music distribution / singing publishing server 30 in, for example, the MP3 data format. In this case, along with the singing data, the singer's identification information corresponding to the singing data (including the singer's member number or name and a photograph) is also transmitted to the server 30. Music distribution /
The singing publishing server 30 stores the sent singing data and the singer identification information in the singing data file 36 through a certain authentication procedure in the authentication unit 35. The music distribution / singing publishing server 30 further adds the singing data and singer identification information recorded in the singing data file 36 to the WEB file 33 in the homepage 32 of the server as public information. The music distribution / singing public server 30
Uploads the singing data and the singer identification information stored in the singing data file 36 to the singing data file 12 of the music database server 10 via the communication network 20.

Thus, the general user 50 and / or the subscriber 60 listen to and / or download the singing data by accessing the homepage 32 of the music distribution / singing publishing server 30, and determine who the singer is. You can know. In addition, the member 60 can access the music database server 10 to obtain the singing data and the like.

Each player / recorder 40 stores a singing data file 36 formed by collecting public singing data and the like from all the players / recorders 40 in the music distribution / singing publishing server 30 as described above. It can be downloaded to the temporary storage hard disk 43 if desired. The user can also select desired singing data from the public singing data file thus downloaded and record it on the recording medium 70 by the recorder 63. In the above example, the singing data stored in the singing data file 36 has been described as being in a compressed data format such as the MP3 format.
By combining the data of the type or the data of the PCM type with the data of the compressed type such as the MP3 type, the singing data that can be recorded on the recording medium 70 by the recorder 63 can be adjusted to a desired recording quality. Accordingly, it is also possible to select from various data formats.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of a system for implementing a song publishing method using a communication network or the like according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a system to which a singing and publishing method according to the present invention is applied in detail up to a music data distribution process;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of a player / recorder 40 in the embodiment of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a menu screen in which a part of a music file stored in a temporary storage hard disk 43 in the player / recorder 40 in FIG. 3 is displayed on a monitor 47;

FIG. 5 is a view showing a menu screen displayed on a monitor 47 when the player / recorder 40 shown in FIG. 3 instructs to record selected singing data in a storage medium 70;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the above-described embodiment of the system to which the singing publishing method according to the present invention is applied in detail with respect to a singing data publishing process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 music database server (first server) 11 music data file 12 singing data file 20 communication network 30 music distribution / singing publishing server (second server) 31 music data file 32 homepage (HP) 33 WEB file 36 ... Singing data file 40 ... Player / recorder 41 ... Control unit 43 ... Hard disk for temporary storage 47 ... Monitor 48 ... Hard disk for reproduction 50 ... General user 60 ... Subscriber 62 ... Hard disk for temporary recording 63 ... Recorder 64 ... MP3 Converter 66 ... Electronic still camera 68 ... Label printer 70 ... Recording medium

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (71) Applicant 590000248 Groenewoodsweg 1, 5621 BA Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. storing a music data file including at least one music data including at least music data and lyrics data from a first server to a second server via a communication network; Storing the stored music data file in at least one player / recorder installed in at least one site via a communication network; and selecting from the music data files stored in the player / recorder. Playing back the song data and / or lyrics data and storing the singing data representing the singing of the user of the player / recorder in the player / recorder; and storing the singing data together with the identification information of the user in the player / recorder. Through the communication network from the second
Transmitting and storing the song data and the user identification information stored in the second server to a third party via a communication network. A singing publishing method using a communication network or the like, characterized in that: 2. The step of making available to the third party includes the step of storing the singing data and the identification information of the user stored in the second server in the first server via a communication network. 2. The singing publishing method using a communication network or the like according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The communication network according to claim 1, further comprising a step of recording the singing data stored in the player / recorder on a recording medium. Song publishing method. 4. The communication network according to claim 3, wherein the step of recording the singing data on a recording medium further includes a step of printing the identification information of the user on the recording medium. The song release method used. 5. The song data according to claim 1, wherein the music data is in a PCM data format, and the singing data transmitted to the second server is in a compressed data format. A song publishing method using the described communication network or the like. 6. A first server storing a music data file including at least one music data including at least music data and lyrics data, and storing the music data file from the first server via a communication network. A second server that stores the music data file stored in the second server via a communication network, and at least one player / recorder installed at at least one site, wherein the player The / recorder is configured to reproduce song data and / or lyrics data selected from the music data file stored in the player / recorder, and to store singing data representing a song of a user of the player / recorder. And the second server stores the song stored in the player / recorder. Data together with the user identification information via a communication network, and the singing data and the user identification information stored in the second server are made available to a third party via the communication network. A song publishing system using a communication network or the like, characterized in that: 7. The second server, wherein the song data and the user identification information stored in the second server are configured to be stored in the first server via a communication network. A song publishing system using the communication network or the like according to claim 6. 8. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the player / recorder is configured to record the singing data stored in the player / recorder on a recording medium. Singing publishing system using a communication network. 9. The singing publishing system using a communication network or the like according to claim 8, wherein the player / recorder is configured to print the identification information of the user on the recording medium. . 10. The music data is in a PCM data format, and the singing data stored in the second server from the player / recorder via a communication network is in a compressed data format. A singing publishing system using the communication network or the like according to any one of Items 6 to 9.