JP4432796B2 - Music distribution system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention provides a music distribution system comprising a server for transmitting a music file and a music playback device for playing back the received music file, and music for creating a test music file that can be auditioned by another music playback device from the received music file. The present invention relates to a playback apparatus and a music distribution system including the same.

  In a conventional music distribution system, when a user accesses a server from a terminal such as a music playback device and performs an operation of purchasing a music file, the server performs a charging process and downloads the music file from the server to the terminal. For trial listening before the user purchases a music file, a stream distribution technique for playing the music file while downloading the music file for trial listening from the server to the terminal is used. This stream distribution technique is such that the user cannot store the trial music file on the terminal, and can play the trial music file only when the user accessing the server accesses the server.

There is also a music distribution system based on a technique called “super distribution” in which an encrypted content body and a usage right file are separated. According to this technology, the content body such as a music file is encrypted, and the user may obtain the content body by any route. In addition to the content body, the user can use the content body, for example, play a music file, by obtaining a usage right file for the content body from the server and using a dedicated application.
For example, if the file capacity of the content body is very large, it is difficult to attach it to an e-mail and send it to a friend. However, according to the above technology, the content body can be used when a friend obtains the content body by another route and accesses the server to obtain the usage right file. Here, the information transmitted to the user as a usage right file is preset in the server by the server administrator.
Patent Document 1 is known as a conventional technique.
JP 2001-028786 A

  Conventionally, since a music file received from a music distribution system has a large file capacity, it is not suitable for sending to a plurality of friends by attaching it to e-mail, for example. For this reason, even if you can explain to a friend that the song file you purchased is a good song, you can't let it be heard, so your friend can access the server from his terminal and find and purchase the song file There was a need. Since users cannot listen to the music files they purchased unless other users, such as friends, take such complicated procedures, they cannot communicate smoothly about music preferences. I couldn't expect to buy music files through word-of-mouth, which spreads their reputation.

Further, in the music distribution system based on the super-distribution technology, the content body can be obtained through various routes, but cannot be reproduced before purchasing the usage right. Stream delivery technology was used as well.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a music playback device and a music distribution system that allow other users to listen to music files received from a server.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that a receiving means for receiving a music file from a server capable of providing a music file, and a sample listening from the received music file. A music playback apparatus comprising: a creation means for creating a music file; and a means for transmitting the created music file for trial listening to another music playback apparatus.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a server for transmitting a music file, a trial music file from the music file received from the server, and transmitting the created trial music file to another music playback device. 1. A music distribution system comprising: a first music playback device; and a second music playback device that plays music from a sample music file received from the first music playback device.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the music distribution system according to the second aspect, the trial music file is encrypted, and the second music playback device decrypts the trial music file. Receiving the decryption information from a server holding the digitized information, decrypting the music file for trial listening, and reproducing a musical sound.

  According to the present invention, since a music file for trial listening is created in a music playback device such as a mobile phone that has received a music file from a server, favorite music can be easily introduced to other users such as friends. In other words, when a user likes a purchased music file, a music file for trial listening can be generated and attached to an e-mail, and the music file for listening can be distributed to other users such as friends. By doing so, it is possible to smoothly promote “communication” to explain their preferences, and to realize “word-of-mouth” sales through auditioning without hassle.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the music distribution system 1 in this embodiment. In the music distribution system 1, a server 203 having a database 203 a storing music files, and personal computer terminals 201 and 206 that are music playback devices that receive and play music files from the server 203 are connected to the public communication network 202. Similarly, mobile terminals 205 and 207, which are music playback devices that receive and play music files from the server 203, are connected to the public communication network 202 via the base station 204. The personal computer terminal 201 has a display 201a and a speaker 201b. The same applies to the personal computer terminal 206. The mobile terminal 205 includes a display unit 205a, a speaker 205b, and a microphone 205c. The same applies to the mobile terminal 207.

Next, the configuration of each part of the music distribution system 1 described above will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the music distribution system 1. The server 2 corresponds to the server 203 in FIG. 2, and the database 203a in FIG. The mobile phone 3 corresponds to the mobile terminal 205 or 207 in FIG. 2, the display unit 27 corresponds to the display unit 205a in FIG. 2, the speaker 25 corresponds to the speaker 205b in FIG. 2, and the microphone 24 corresponds to the microphone 205c in FIG. . The communication network 4 corresponds to the public communication network 202 of FIG. 2, and the base station 5 corresponds to the base station 204 of FIG.
Note that the personal computer terminals 201 and 206 in FIG. 2 do not have a function of transmitting / receiving radio wave signals, a function of performing a voice call, a microphone for inputting voice, or the like, unlike the mobile phone 3, but as a music playback device. Since the configuration and operation are the same as those of the mobile phone 3 of FIG. 1, the configuration and operation will be described below using the mobile phone 3 as an example of a music playback device.

The server 2 in FIG. 1 includes a communication unit 11 for communicating with the mobile phone 3 via the communication network 4, a music file transmitted to the mobile phone 3, and a distribution file 53 transmitted when the mobile phone 3 performs a trial listening. (FIG. 3) in which a hard disk 12, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory) and the like are stored, an operation unit 14 such as a keyboard and a mouse, a display unit 15 such as a display, a CPU (Central) Arithmetic processing unit) 16.
The communication network 4 is a public communication network such as the Internet.
The base station 5 is wirelessly connected to the mobile phone 3 and relays data transmitted and received between the server 2 and the mobile phone 3 via the communication network 4.

  The communication unit 21 of the mobile phone 3 is used for voice call or data communication. The communication unit 21 performs transmission / reception of radio signals with the base station 5 via the antenna 22, modulation / demodulation of transmission / reception signals, and data input / output with the CPU 29 or DSP (digital signal processing device) 32. Here, character data, symbol data, and the like obtained by demodulation are output to the CPU 29 via the bus line, and audio data is output to the DSP 32 of the signal processing unit 23. Further, it modulates the character data output from the CPU 29 and the audio data output from the DSP 32.

The signal processing unit 23 includes a DSP 32 and a converter 31.
The converter 31 converts the audio signal input from the microphone 24 into digital audio data and inputs it to the DSP 32, and converts the digital audio data output from the DSP 32 into an analog signal and outputs it to the speaker 25.
The DSP 32 compresses the digital audio data output from the converter 31 and outputs it to the communication unit 21, and decompresses the compressed digital audio data output from the communication unit 21 and outputs it to the converter 31. Further, the CPU 29 converts the musical sound data output when reproducing the music file into digital audio data and outputs the digital audio data to the converter 31.

The operation unit 26 includes a numeric keypad and function keys. The display unit 27 is a liquid crystal display that displays images, characters, and the like based on display signals output from the CPU 29. The CPU 29 controls each unit based on a program stored in the memory 28.
The memory 28 includes a ROM (read only memory), a RAM (random access memory), and the like. The ROM stores programs executed by the CPU 29 and constant data. The RAM temporarily stores data in the processing of the CPU 29. Further, the various applications shown in FIG. 3 relating to the reproduction of the music file and the production and reproduction of the music file for trial listening, and the various files, ie, the music file reproduction application 41, the trial file production application 42, and the reproduction exclusively for the encrypted trial file. An application 43, a purchase file 51 which is a purchased music file, and an encrypted trial listening file 52 produced by the trial listening file production application 42 from the purchase file 51 are stored.

Hereinafter, the music file playback application 41, the audition file creation application 42, and the encrypted audition file dedicated playback application 43 will be described. These are supplied from a provider that operates the server 2.
The music file reproduction application 41 is an application for reproducing the music file received from the server 2 on the mobile phone 3. Since the music file received from the server 2 and stored in the memory 28 is encoded in a predetermined format, the music file playback application 41 outputs the musical sound data generated by decoding the music file to the DSP 32.

The trial file creation application 42 is an application that creates a trial music file from a music file and encrypts the music file to produce an encrypted trial file 52. The music file for trial listening is a music file in a format suitable for trial listening. As a production method, for example, a music file that extracts a part of a music file such as a rust portion of the music and makes it a music file for trial listening. For example, a compressed music file with a reduced quality is used. Next, the sample music file is encrypted. The encryption is performed using, for example, an encryption key stored in advance in the trial listening file production application 42. The encrypted trial listening file 52 thus produced can be redistributed to an unspecified number of users by the user who purchased the music file.
Note that, as described above, the trial listening may be performed by stream delivery between the mobile phones 3 without producing the trial listening music file. In this case, the server software and the client software for stream delivery are stored in advance in the memory 28 of the mobile phone 3 on the side of transmitting and receiving the data for reproducing the music file, respectively. Start up and stream delivery. In this case, the music file cannot be stored in the mobile phone 3 on the trial listening side as described above.

The encrypted listening file dedicated playback application 43 is an application that can play back the encrypted listening file 52 created by the listening file creation application 42. Playing the encrypted listening file 52 using another application is not possible. Can not. First, the encrypted trial listening file dedicated reproduction application 43 receives the distribution file 53 (FIG. 3) including the decryption information of the encrypted trial listening file 52 from the server and decrypts it. The decryption information is, for example, a decryption key for decrypting the encrypted trial listening file 52. The encryption key and the decryption key stored in advance in the trial file production application 42 are different from the key used for encryption and the key used for decryption, for example. You may use as an encryption key and a decryption key.
Reproduction of the decrypted music file for trial listening is performed by outputting the musical sound data generated by decoding the music file stored in the memory 28 to the DSP 32 in the same manner as the reproduction by the music file reproduction application 41.

It should be noted that when the encrypted sample file 52 was produced by the sample file production application 42, the URL for purchasing the original music file from which the encrypted sample file 52 was produced from the server 2 and the encrypted sample file 52 were produced. The user ID or the like may be stored in the encrypted trial listening file 52 as purchase auxiliary information. The purchase auxiliary information can be used by displaying the purchase auxiliary information on the display unit 27 of the mobile phone 3 when the encrypted trial listening file 52 is reproduced by the encrypted trial file dedicated reproduction application 43, or When a friend or the like who received the trial listening file 52 purchased the original music file purchases the original music file, the ID of the user who created the encrypted trial listening file 52 is acquired from this purchase auxiliary information and transmitted to the server 2. The user who has produced the encrypted trial listening file 52, that is, the user who purchases the original music file from which the encrypted trial listening file 52 has been produced and offers the privilege etc. to the user who has introduced the music file to a friend or the like. .
In the above description, the sample file creation application 42 and the encrypted sample file exclusive playback application 43 encrypt and decrypt the sample music file, respectively, but without using the encryption and decryption, respectively. Only production and reproduction of the music file may be performed. In this case, it is not necessary to receive the distribution file 53 from the server 2 when playing the music file for trial listening. For example, when a friend who has received the encrypted trial listening file 52 performs a trial listening, the same as above. It becomes difficult to provide a service that provides a privilege or the like to a user who introduced the music to a friend or the like.

Next, the operation of the music distribution system 1 described above will be described with reference to FIG.
The user downloads the music file playback application 41 and the trial file creation application 42 from the server of the provider that operates the server 2 in advance and stores them in the memory 28 of the mobile phone 3.
First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the user purchases a music file on the server 2 and downloads it to the mobile phone 3, stores the purchased file 51 in the memory 28, and reproduces it by the music file reproduction application 41. The user likes the purchased music file and wants to communicate by sending the music file to a close friend.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 3B, the user creates an encrypted trial listening file 52 from the purchase file 51 stored in the memory 28 by the trial listening file creation application 42. Then, for example, the produced encrypted trial listening file 52 is attached to an e-mail and transmitted to a friend.

The friend who has received this e-mail downloads and stores it from the server of the provider who operates the server 2 when the reproduction application 43 dedicated to the encrypted trial listening file is not stored in the memory 28 of his mobile phone 3.
Then, as shown in FIG. 3C, the encrypted trial listening file dedicated playback application 43 plays back the encrypted trial listening file 52 attached to the e-mail. As described above, the encrypted listening file dedicated playback application 43 first accesses the server 2 to obtain the distribution file 53 including information for decrypting the encrypted listening file 52 and decrypts the listening music file. Reproduce.

In the case of a music distribution system based on super-distribution technology, the operator of the server 2 further provided an application that allows the user who purchased the music file to issue a temporary use right file for listening, and purchased the music file. Other users who have received the encrypted trial listening file 52 and the usage right file for trial listening from the user may be able to reproduce the encrypted trial listening file dedicated reproduction application 43.
Further, the user who purchased the music file requests the user who has designated the server managing the usage right file to transmit the usage right file to a friend, for example, a friend. When receiving and playing, the encrypted trial file dedicated playback application 43 may automatically access the server 2 to download the trial usage right file and start playback.

In the above-described embodiment, the server 2 is described as having a function of providing a music file and a function of providing a distribution file of decryption information. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a server may be provided separately. Is clear.
The music file playback application 41, the trial file creation application 42, and the encrypted trial file dedicated playback application 43 may be separate applications or integrated applications.
Further, the sample music file may be encrypted by encrypting only a part of the music.
Further, the purchase file 51 transmitted from the server 2 may be encrypted. In this case, the encrypted audition file 52 is created after being decrypted, but the encryption at this time may be different from the encryption key for the purchase file 51, and the encryption method itself is also different. There may be.

  The present invention is used in a music distribution system that enables trial listening to music files.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the music delivery system 1 by embodiment of this invention. 1 is a schematic diagram of a music distribution system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of the music delivery system 1.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Music distribution system, 2 ... Server, 3 ... Mobile phone, 4 ... Communication network, 5 ... Base station, 11 ... Communication part, 12 ... Hard disk, 13 ... Memory, 14 ... Operation part, 15 ... Display part, 16 ... CPU, 21 ... Communication unit, 22 ... Antenna, 23 ... Signal processing unit, 24 ... Microphone, 25 ... Speaker, 26 ... Operation unit, 27 ... Display unit, 28 ... Memory, 29 ... CPU, 41 ... Music file playback application, 42 ... Trial file creation application, 43 ... Dedicated playback application for encrypted trial file, 51 ... Purchase file, 52 ... Encrypted trial file, 53 ... Distribution file, 201, 206 ... Personal computer terminal, 201a ... Display, 201b ... Speaker, 202 ... Public communication network, 203 ... Server, 203a ... Database, 204 ... Base station 205,207 ... mobile terminal, 205a ... display unit, 205b ... speaker, 205c ... Microphone

Claims (2)

A server for sending music files;
A music file for trial listening encrypted from the music file received from the server is created, the created music file for trial listening is sent to another music playback device, and the encrypted music file is sent to the other music playback device. A first music playback device that instructs the server to transmit the decrypted decryption information of the sample music file for trial listening ;
The decoding information of the first encrypted sample audio file received from the music reproduction apparatus receives from said server, and decrypts the encrypted sample audio file by using the decoding information tone A second music playback device for playing
A music distribution system comprising: The first music reproducing apparatus creates the trial聴用music file containing the user ID,
The second music reproducing apparatus, when in connection with reproduction of the musical tone by the sample audio file the received purchase the original music file of the sample audio file was made, the from the trial聴用music file The music distribution system according to claim 1, wherein a user ID is acquired and transmitted to the server.

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