Heavy Influencer Media Recommendations

Abstract

A system and method for providing media recommendations, such as music recommendations, based on information identifying media recently played by a select group of heavy influencers for a subscription fee are provided. The group of heavy influencers may be a group of one or more celebrities or other persons whose media selections may heavily influence media selections of the users of the system.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of operating a central server to provide media recommendations to a client media player of a user, comprising:
 obtaining a user selection of one or more heavy influencers, the user selection based upon input from the user of the client media player;   receiving, from media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers, media identification information identifying one or more media presentations in response to the one or more media presentations being played by the media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers, each of the one or more media presentations being a song or a video; and   providing the media identification information identifying the one or more media presentations played by the media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers to the client media player of the user, wherein the media identification information is provided to the client media player in substantially real time as the media identification information is received from the media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein obtaining the user selection of the one or more heavy influencers comprises obtaining one or more individually selected heavy influencers as the user selection. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein obtaining the user selection of the one or more heavy influencers comprises obtaining one or more selected predefined groups of heavy influencers as the user selection. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each of the one or more heavy influencers is a person having substantial influence over media presentations played by other persons. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each of the one or more heavy influencers is a celebrity. 
     
     
         6 . A central server for providing media recommendations comprising:
 a communication interface component communicatively coupling the central server to one or more media players associated with a plurality of heavy influencers and a client media player associated with a user; and   a control component associated with the communication interface component and configured to:
 obtain filter criteria associated with the user of the client media player; 
 obtain a user selection of one or more heavy influencers of the plurality of heavy influencers, the user selection based upon input from the user of the client media player; 
 receive, from media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers, media identification information identifying one or more media presentations in response to the one or more media presentations being played by the media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers, each of the one or more media presentations being a song or a video; 
 filter the media identification information based on the filter criteria to remove media identification information identifying media presentations that are not to be recommended; 
 select a recommended media presentation from the one or more media presentations played by the media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers based on the filter criteria; and 
 provide a recommendation for the recommended media presentation to the client media player of the user. 
   
     
     
         7 . The central server of  claim 6  wherein the client media player of the user is communicatively coupled to the central server via a network, and the control component is further configured to provide the recommendation for the recommended media presentation to the client media player for a subscription fee. 
     
     
         8 . The central server of  claim 6  wherein in providing the recommendation, the control component is configured to provide the recommendation to the client media player upon request. 
     
     
         9 . The central server of  claim 6  wherein the control component is configured to receive the media identification information in substantially real time as the one or more media presentations identified by the media identification information are played by the media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers. 
     
     
         10 . A method of operating a central server to provide media recommendations to a client media player of a user, comprising:
 obtaining filter criteria associated with the user of the client media player;   obtaining a user selection of one or more heavy influencers of the plurality of heavy influencers, the user selection based upon input from the user of the client media player;   receiving, from media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers, media identification information identifying one or more media presentations in response to the one or more media presentations being played by the media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers, each of the one or more media presentations being a song or a video;   filtering the media identification information based on the filter criteria to remove media identification information identifying media presentations that are not to be recommended;   selecting a recommended media presentation from the one or more media presentations played by the media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers based on the filter criteria; and   providing a recommendation for the recommended media presentation to the client media player of the user.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the client media player of the user is communicatively coupled to the central server via a network, and providing the recommendation for the recommended media presentation to the client media player of the user comprises providing the recommendation for the recommended media presentation to the client media player for a subscription fee. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10  wherein providing the recommendation comprises providing the recommendation to the client media player upon request. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the media identification information is received in substantially real time as the one or more media presentations identified by the media identification information are played by the media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers. 
     
     
         14 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer program, executable by a central server machine, for providing media recommendations, the computer program comprising executable instructions for:
 obtaining filter criteria associated with the user of the client media player;   obtaining a user selection of one or more heavy influencers of the plurality of heavy influencers, the user selection based upon input from the user of the client media player;   receiving, from media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers, media identification information identifying one or more media presentations in response to the one or more media presentations being played by the media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers, each of the one or more media presentations being a song or a video;   filtering the media identification information based on the filter criteria to remove media identification information identifying media presentations that are not to be recommended;   selecting a recommended media presentation from the one or more media presentations played by the media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers based on the filter criteria; and   providing a recommendation for the recommended media presentation to the client media player of the user.   
     
     
         15 . A central server for providing media recommendations comprising:
 a communication interface component communicatively coupling the central server to one or more media players associated with a plurality of heavy influencers and a client media player associated with a user; and   a control component associated with the communication interface and configured to:
 obtain filter criteria associated with the user of the client media player; 
 receive, from media players associated with one or more heavy influencers, media identification information identifying one or more media presentations in response to the one or more media presentations being played by the media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers, each of the one or more media presentations being a song or a video; 
 filter the media identification information based on the filter criteria to remove media identification information identifying media presentations that are not to be recommended; 
 select a recommended media presentation from the one or more media presentations played by the media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers based on the filter criteria; and 
 provide a recommendation for the recommended media presentation to the client media player of the user. 
   
     
     
         16 . The central server of  claim 15  wherein the client media player of the user is communicatively coupled to the central server via a network, and the control component is further configured to provide the recommendation for the recommended media presentation to the client media player for a subscription fee. 
     
     
         17 . The central server of  claim 15  wherein in providing the recommendation, the control component is configured to provide the recommendation to the client media player upon request. 
     
     
         18 . The central server of  claim 15  wherein the control component is configured to receive the media identification information in substantially real time as the one or more media presentations identified by the media identification information are played by the media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers. 
     
     
         19 . A method of operating a central server to provide media recommendations to a client media player of a user, comprising:
 obtaining filter criteria associated with the user of the client media player;   receiving, from media players associated with one or more heavy influencers, media identification information identifying one or more media presentations in response to the one or more media presentations being played by the media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers, each of the one or more media presentations being a song or a video;   filtering the media identification information based on the filter criteria to remove media identification information identifying media presentations that are not to be recommended;   selecting a recommended media presentation from the one or more media presentations played by the media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers based on the filter criteria; and   providing a recommendation for the recommended media presentation to the client media player of the user.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19  wherein the client media player of the user is communicatively coupled to the central server via a network, and providing the recommendation for the recommended media presentation to the client media player of the user comprises providing the recommendation for the recommended media presentation to the client media player for a subscription fee. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19  wherein providing the recommendation comprises providing the recommendation to the client media player upon request. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 19  wherein the media identification information is received in substantially real time as the one or more media presentations identified by the media identification information are played by the media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers. 
     
     
         23 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer program, executable by a central server machine, for providing media recommendations, the computer program comprising executable instructions for:
 obtaining filter criteria associated with the user of the client media player;   receiving, from media players associated with one or more heavy influencers, media identification information identifying one or more media presentations in response to the one or more media presentations being played by the media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers, each of the one or more media presentations being a song or a video;   filtering the media identification information based on the filter criteria to remove media identification information identifying media presentations that are not to be recommended;   selecting a recommended media presentation from the one or more media presentations played by the media players associated with the one or more heavy influencers based on the filter criteria; and   providing a recommendation for the recommended media presentation to the client media player of the user.