Content output queue generation

Abstract

An automated method and system configured to pseudo-shuffle a pool of electronic content items in accordance with various criteria so that playback of all or a subset of the items in the user's collection occur in a pseudo-random order. The shuffled content items may be output to a user or transferred to a device. A list of the shuffled content items is built and may be saved for later use for playback on a PC or portable device. In some instances the list is built without output or download of the content items.

1 - 31 . (canceled) 
     
     
         32 . An apparatus for automatically outputting electronic content stored in a library of electronic content items, comprising:
 a computer configured for electronic data processing and the playing of media;   programming configured for execution on said computer for,
 accessing metadata associated with a library of content items, as a first content list, having a plurality of library content items; 
 generating a pool of content items, as a second content list, by applying one or more user-selected filtering criteria to the metadata for the library content items as first content list, whereby one or more groups of desired content items are filtered from said library of content items into said pool of content items; and 
 adding a content item from the pool of content items to a third list of content items for playback, by the steps of,
 choosing a candidate content item for playback from said pool of content items in response to a random or pseudo-random selection process, 
 evaluating one or more metadata characteristics of said candidate content item based on one or more selection criterion established by a user, and 
 adding said candidate content item to said third list of content items for playback if it matches said selection criterion established by the user; 
 
 repeating the adding of additional content items to said third list of content items for playback; 
 wherein the selected content items for playback can be played out immediately. 
   
     
     
         33 . The apparatus recited in  claim 32 , wherein said third list comprises an output queue for playback of the selected playback content items on a platform used to generate the list. 
     
     
         34 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 32 , wherein said third list is configured for output to an external device for playback. 
     
     
         35 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 32 , wherein each of the library content items comprises:
 presentation data for playback; and   metadata associated with said presentation data;   said metadata comprising the one or more characteristics.   
     
     
         36 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 32 , wherein said library content items comprise one or more of the following files: MP3, OGG, WMA, ACC, WAV, MPG, MOV, AVI GIF, and TIFF. 
     
     
         37 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 32 , wherein said characteristics comprise one or more of the following: filename, song or album title, genre, size, type, duration, last played, play count, date created, composer, bitrate, beats per minute (BPM), season, episode number, show. 
     
     
         38 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 32 , wherein selecting a plurality of playback content items further comprises:
 randomly selecting a first content item from the library;   evaluating one or more metadata characteristics of the first content item against one or more predetermined criteria; and   placing the first content item in said list if the one or more criteria are met.   
     
     
         39 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 38 , wherein selecting a plurality of playback content items further comprises:
 randomly selecting a second content item from the library;   comparing metadata of the first content item to the second content item according to the one or more predetermined criteria; and   including or excluding the second content item at a location in the list if the one or more predetermined criteria are met.   
     
     
         40 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 39 :
 wherein the second content item is temporarily excluded from one or more locations in the list to maintain a minimum queue distance between the first content item and the second content item;   said temporary exclusion being a function of the predetermined criteria.   
     
     
         41 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 40 , wherein the second content item is excluded from all remaining locations in the list based on the predetermined criteria. 
     
     
         42 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 40 , wherein the second content item is placed in the list at a location sequential with the first content item. 
     
     
         43 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 32 :
 wherein the playback content items are selected to generate a list having one or more clusters of content items;   wherein said clusters have a specified probability of having a characteristic matching one or more specified criteria.   
     
     
         44 . An apparatus for automatically outputting electronic content stored in a library of electronic content items, comprising:
 a computer configured for electronic data processing and the playing of media;   programming configured for execution on said computer for,
 accessing metadata associated with a library, as a first content item list, having a plurality of media content items; 
 generating a second content list in response to a first filtering selection of content from said first content list into said second content list; 
   generating a third content list, comprising content items from said second content list, in response to pseudo random selection, or random selection of a media content item from said second content list and then determining that said media content item meets one or more user selection criterion;
 said third content list is configured to provide a sequential order for playback of the content items and comprises an output queue for playback of the selected playback content items on a platform used to generate the list. 
   
     
     
         45 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 44 , wherein said third list of content items is configured for output to an external device for playback. 
     
     
         46 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 44 , wherein the one or more characteristics are stored as metadata associated with each of the library content items. 
     
     
         47 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 44 , wherein evaluating one or more characteristics of the metadata associated with the selected content items comprises:
 evaluating one or more characteristics of the first content item against one or more predetermined metadata criteria;   placing the first content item in said list if the one or more criteria are met in the metadata of the first content item;   comparing the metadata of a second content item to the first content item according to the one or more predetermined metadata criteria; and   including or excluding the second content item at a location in the list if the one or more predetermined metadata criteria are met.   
     
     
         48 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 47 :
 wherein the second content item is temporarily excluded from one or more locations in the list based on the predetermined metadata criteria to maintain a minimum queue distance between the first content item and the second content item.   
     
     
         49 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 44 :
 wherein said metadata characteristic comprises a rating value associated with each content item; and   wherein a content item is excluded or included at a location on the list based on the rating value exceeding a predetermined threshold.   
     
     
         50 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 44 , wherein said predetermined criteria control the probability that a library content item having a particular rating value is included in the list. 
     
     
         51 . An apparatus for automatically outputting electronic content stored in a library of electronic content items, comprising:
 accessing metadata associated with a library having a plurality of library content items as a first content list;   selecting a plurality of playback content items from said first content list into a second content list for which the accessed metadata meets a first selection criterion; and   adding content items from said second content list to a third content list in response to a random, or pseudorandom, selection and a determination that the content item meets one or more selection criterion established by a user;   wherein said third content list is configured to allow immediate playback.