Systems, methods and apparatuses for facilitating content consumption and sharing through geographic and incentive based virtual networks

Abstract

Consumption and sharing of content, including music, is facilitated by an apparatus and a network configured to collect location information related to users of the network and the content. Users are provided with the capability to create playlists of content portions which may be graphically displayed atop a map. Location, playing and sharing information is used to evaluate the content portions, users and playlists. Content may be selected for playing by a user based on the evaluation.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus for facilitating consumption of content, comprising:
 a command receiver configured to receive a command to create a playlist which includes associated playlist location information and associated playlist composition information, the playlist composition information specifying at least one content portion;   a graphical display generator configured to generate a graphical display which includes a map and a playlist icon atop the map at a location determined by the playlist location information;   a graphical display modifier configured to modify the graphical display to generate a modified graphical display in response to receipt of a playlist icon selection command from the client identifying the playlist icon as having been selected by a user, the modified graphical display including a playlist detail display including a graphical identification of the at least one content portion and a play command input associated with the at least one content portion; and   a transceiver configured to transmit the graphical display and modified graphical display to a client.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the playlist creation command further includes the at least one content portion. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the playlist creation command further includes an identification of a storage location of the at least one content portion. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a point register manager configured to increment a point register associated with the at least one content portion upon receipt of a play command associated with a user's having activated the play control input associated with the at least one content portion.   
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 a comparator configured to generate, in response to a content portion comparison request from a client, a graphical comparison of point registers associated with a plurality of content portions, wherein   the transceiver is configured to transmit the graphical comparison to the client.   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the command receiver is configured to receive a play command from a playing client associated with a playing user's having activated the play control input associated with the at least one content portion, the play command including at least one of an identification of the playing user's location and an identification of a profile associated with the playing user which includes an identification of the playing user's location;   the apparatus further comprises a point register manager configured to increment a point register associated with the at least one content portion upon receipt of the play command and recording the playing user's location in association with the point register increment; and   the transceiver is configured to provide the at least one content portion associated with the play command to the playing client.   
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein:
 the command receiver is configured to receive a local content portion comparison request from a requesting client which includes an identification of a limited geographic area;   the apparatus further comprises a comparator configured to generate, in response to the local content portion comparison request, a local graphical comparison of total point register increment occurrences only related to playing users which are inside the limited geographic area for a plurality of content portions; and   the transceiver is configured to transmit the local graphical comparison to the client.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a point register manager configured to increment a point register associated with the playlist in response to the receipt of the playlist icon selection command.   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a point register manager configured to increment a point register associated with a user associated with the playlist creation command in response to the receipt of the playlist icon selection command.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein:
 the point register manager is configured to increment the point register associated with the playlist each time a play command is received from a playing client associated with a playing user's having activated the play control input associated with the at least one content portion.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein
 the graphical display generator is configured to size a first playlist icon and a second playlist icon differently, the respective icon sizes being determined based on point registers associated with playlists associated with the respective playlist icons.   
     
     
         12 . An apparatus for facilitating consumption of content, comprising:
 a profile storage manager configured to store, in response to receiving a user profile generation command, a record of a geographic location of a user initiating the command;   a play record storage manager configured to store, in response to receiving a request to play a song, a record of the play request including an identity of a user initiating the play request and an identity of the song;   a comparator configured to generate a list of songs ranked according to a number of play requests received from users located within a specific geographic area; and   a transceiver configured to output the list of songs.   
     
     
         13 . An apparatus for facilitating consumption of content, comprising:
 a profile storage manager configured to store, in response to receiving a user profile generation command, a record of a geographic location of a user initiating the command;   a play record storage manager configured to store, in response to receiving a request to play a song, a record of the play request including an identity of a user initiating the play request and an identity of the song;   a song selector configured to select, in response to a local random song play request from a particular user, a first song which has been played more than a predetermined number of times by users located within a geographic area specified by the local random song play request; and   a transceiver configured to output the selected first song to a client from which the local random song play request was received.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein:
 the song selector is further configured to select a second song, in response to the local random song play request, which has been played more than a predetermined number of times by users located within a geographic area specified by the local random song play request; and   the transceiver is further configured to output the selected second song to a client from which the local random song play request was received after outputting the selected first song.