Management of media content availability

Abstract

Various embodiments relating to managing media content availability in a playlist are provided. In one embodiment a playlist including a plurality of media content items may be received. Media content items included in the playlist that are not accessible due to a lack of access rights may be identified as inaccessible media content items. For each inaccessible media content item, if a different version of that inaccessible media content item is available as an accessible media content item, that inaccessible media content item may be replaced with the accessible media content item in the playlist.

1 . A method of managing media content availability in a playlist, the method comprising:
 receiving a playlist including a plurality of media content items;   identifying, as inaccessible media content items, those media content items included in the playlist that are not accessible due to a lack of access rights; and   for each inaccessible media content item, if a different version of that inaccessible media content item is available as an accessible media content item, replacing that inaccessible media content item with the accessible media content item in the playlist.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the inaccessible media content items are not accessible in a market due to a lack of access rights for the market. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 if the different version of that inaccessible media content item is not available, replacing that inaccessible media content item with an available media content item having a similarity association with that inaccessible media content item in the playlist.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the similarity association includes one of a different song by an artist of the inaccessible media content item, a different video by an artist of the inaccessible media content item, a song by a different artist that is similar to an artist of the inaccessible media content item, or a video by a different artist that is similar to an artist of the inaccessible media content item. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 if the different version of that inaccessible media content item is not available, replacing that inaccessible media content item with a preview media content item that is a partial version of that inaccessible media content item.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 if the different version of the inaccessible media content item is not available, offering for purchase a persistent download of that inaccessible media content item that allows that inaccessible media content item to be accessed.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of media content items are accessible via at least one of purchased persistent download, subscription persistent download, subscription non-persistent download, or free non-persistent download. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each media content item of the plurality of media content items include an individualized content identifier that identifies that media content item and allows retrieval of access rights for that media content item. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of media content items include at least one of audio content items or video content items. 
     
     
         10 . A method of managing media content availability in a playlist shared across different markets, the method comprising:
 receiving a playlist including a plurality of media content items, each media content item having access rights that define in which markets that media content item is accessible;   identifying, as inaccessible media content items, those media content items included in the playlist that are not accessible in a market due to a lack of access rights for the market; and   for each inaccessible media content item, if a different version of that inaccessible media content item that has access rights for the market is available as an accessible media content item, replacing that inaccessible media content item with the accessible media content item in the playlist.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 if the different version of that inaccessible media content item is not available, replacing that inaccessible media content item with an available media content item having a similarity association with that inaccessible media content item.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the similarity association includes one of a different song by an artist of the inaccessible media content item, a different video by an artist of the inaccessible media content item, a song by a different artist that is similar to an artist of the inaccessible media content item, or a video by a different artist that is similar to an artist of the inaccessible media content item. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 if the different version of the inaccessible media content item is not available, replacing that inaccessible media content item with a preview media content item that is a partial version of that inaccessible media content item.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 if the different version of the inaccessible media content item is not available, offering for purchase a persistent download of that inaccessible media content item that allows that inaccessible media content item to be accessed.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein each media content item included in the playlist is accessible in a different market from which the playlist was sent. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein each media content item of the plurality of media content items include an individualized content identifier that identifies that media content item and allows retrieval of access rights for that media content item. 
     
     
         17 . A method of managing media content availability in a playlist shared across different markets, the method comprising:
 receiving a playlist including a plurality of media content items, each media content item having access rights that define in which markets that media content item is accessible;   identifying, as inaccessible media content items, those media content items included in the playlist that cannot be non-persistently downloaded in a market due to a lack of non-persistent download rights for the market;   for each inaccessible media content item, if a different version of that inaccessible media content item that has non-persistent download rights for the market is available for non-persistent download as an accessible media content item, replacing that inaccessible media content item with the accessible media content item in the playlist; and   if the different version of that inaccessible media content item is not available for non-persistent download, offering for purchase a persistent download of the inaccessible media content item that allows that inaccessible media content item to be accessed.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein each media content item included in the playlist is accessible via non-persistent download in a different market from which the playlist was sent. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein each media content item of the plurality of media content items include an individualized content identifier that identifies that media content item and allows retrieval of the access rights for that media content item. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality of media content items include at least one of an audio content item or a video content item.