Audio playlist selections and related entertainment systems and methods

Abstract

A method of providing an entertainment game includes receiving information about a number of players that will be playing the game and receiving information about a music challenge in which the players will be competing. The music challenge is a subject, topic, or category for which there are a plurality of songs that are responsive to the music challenge. A database of songs can be provided from which each player can choose a selected song with each selected song being selected by a respective player in response to the music challenge. At least a portion of the selected songs can be played and the players can be polled to receive votes from the players for the song that best answers the challenge.

1 . A method of providing an entertainment game involving the selection of music for playback, the method comprising:
 receiving information about a number of players that will be playing the game;   receiving information about a music challenge in which the players will be competing, the music challenge comprising a subject, topic, or category for which there are a plurality of songs that are responsive to the music challenge;   providing a database of songs from which each player can choose a selected song, each selected song being selected by a respective player in response to the music challenge;   playing at least a portion of the selected songs; and   polling the players to receive votes from the players,   wherein each player can vote for one of the selected songs.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the database of songs comprises a plurality of songs that are available to be streamed via a secondary website. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the secondary website comprises YouTube™. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each player can choose their respective selected song either from the database of songs or from another source. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the music challenge can be selected from a list of previously-identified challenges. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each player is not permitted to vote for their own respective selected song. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing a predetermined amount of time for each player to vote during the polling step. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the playing of the at least a portion of the selected songs comprises playing an audio-only version of the selected songs, wherein a source of the selected songs comprises both audio and video components. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising providing each player with the option to view the video component of the selected songs. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the selected song that receives the most votes is subsequently played in its entirety. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein songs in the database are associated with at least one URL from which the song can be streamed. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein at least some of the songs in the database are associated with a plurality of URLs from which the song can be streamed. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein when playing the at least a portion of the selected songs, if a URL associated with the selected song is found to be inactive, another URL associated with the selected song is utilized. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein when playing the at least a portion of the selected songs, if all URLs associated with the selected song are found to be inactive, that selected song is skipped and not included in the voting. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the players are permitted to add all of the selected songs into a playlist that can be saved. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the players are in different geographic locations from one another while playing the game. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein players are provided targeted advertising messages based on their geographic locations. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein players are provided with incentives to play additional games, the incentives being of monetary value. 
     
     
         19 . A method of promoting music, the method comprising:
 receiving songs from a plurality of artists;   publishing the songs on a website so the songs are available for viewing by users of the website;   receiving ratings by the users about the quality of the published songs; and   identifying the songs that receive the highest ratings by the users.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the artists of the songs that receive the highest rankings are provided with a prize. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the prize is that the music of the artists that receive the highest rankings is further promoted on the website. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the users are provided with incentives to rate the songs received from the artists. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the incentives comprise instant prizes and prizes for rating a predetermined number of songs. 
     
     
         24 . A method of providing music to users, the method comprising:
 identifying URLs from which a plurality of songs can be streamed from a location on the Internet;   associating the URLs with the plurality of songs;   providing a searchable database that includes the streamable songs and their associated URLs; and   providing a playlist generator that creates a playlist of a plurality of the streamable songs upon selection by a user.