Apparatus, system, and method for digital audio services

Abstract

A system and method for providing digital audio services is described. One embodiment is a method for proving digital audio services, comprising receiving, using a communications interface, an audio stream from a content provider; determining a timestamp for a first audio stream segment; determining a timestamp for a second audio stream segment; updating playlist with a representation of the audio stream; receiving query for content information; and sending offer information, in response to receiving the query for content information.

1 .- 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method for proving digital audio services, comprising:
 receiving, using a broadcast communications interface, an audio stream from a content provider, the audio stream including advertisements;   playing, through an output of the broadcast communications interface, the audio stream;   determining an origin for a first advertisement in the audio stream;   receiving, through a web communications interface, a first interactive element associated with the origin of the first advertisement; and   outputting, by a user interface, the first interactive element.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the determining an origin for the first advertisement comprises sampling audio stream at regular intervals and matching to at least one model audio sample of a plurality of model audio samples. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 determining an origin for a second advertisement in the audio stream;   receiving, through the web communications interface, a second interactive element associated with the origin of the second advertisement;   creating a playlist, by the user interface, of a plurality of interactive elements; and   outputting, by a user interface, the playlist.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising:
 determining that the first interactive element and the second interactive element are different based on a fingerprint analysis; and   updating the playlist to include the first interactive element and the second interactive element.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the fingerprint analysis comprises:
 creating spectrograph data from the audio stream;   filtering out, from the spectrograph data, data representing frequencies not within a predetermined minimum and predetermined maximum range; and   scaling the spectrograph data to a predetermined decibel range.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the first interactive element includes information selected from the group consisting of vendor information, unique receipt information, and offer information. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein said determining an origin step comprises:
 recording a timestamp of the first advertisement; and   comparing, by a web communications interface, the time stamp to a meta data record of the audio stream.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein said determining an origin step comprises:
 analyzing embedded RDS or RBDS metadata from audio stream received by the broadcast communications interface.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein said determining an origin step comprises:
 receiving an embedded RDS or RBDS metadata trigger from the audio stream;   generating a fingerprint by initiating audio sampling from the audio stream for a predetermined period of time; and   matching the fingerprint to an advertisement database.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the first interactive element includes any of:
 a coupon code;   an interactive survey; or   an Internet link to an external website.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 receiving user input, by a user interface, with reference to the first interactive element; and   transmitting, by a web communications interface, user input and a time stamp for the user input to an external server.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 differentiating the first advertisement from other broadcast content by:
 a. periodically sampling the audio stream to generate fingerprints; 
 b. comparing the fingerprints to model samples in a database; 
 c. determining an identity of current audio stream content from fingerprint comparison; 
 d. outputting identity result; and 
 d. delaying subsequent periodic samples by a predetermined time based upon said identity. 
   
     
     
         33 . A method for proving digital audio services, comprising:
 receiving, using a web communications interface on a device, an audio stream from a content provider, the audio stream including advertisements;   playing, through an output of the web communications interface on the device, the audio stream;   receiving, through the web communications interface on the device, a first interactive element associated with a first advertisement; and   outputting, by a user interface of the device, the first interactive element.   
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33 , further comprising:
 receiving, through the web communications interface, a second interactive element associated with a second advertisement;   creating a playlist, by the user interface, of a plurality of interactive elements; and   outputting, by a user interface, the playlist.   
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising:
 determining that the first interactive element and the second interactive element are different based on a fingerprint analysis; and   updating the playlist to include the first interactive element and the second interactive element.   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the first interactive element includes any of:
 a coupon code;   an interactive survey; or   an Internet link to an external website.   
     
     
         37 . A method for proving digital audio services, comprising:
 receiving, using a broadcast communications interface, an audio stream from a content provider;   playing, through an output of the broadcast communications interface to a device, the audio stream;   determining an identification for a first song in the audio stream;   receiving, through a web communications interface on the device, an interactive element having metadata for the first song and a user interface to purchase the first song from an external source;   transmitting, by the user interface, purchase requests for the first song.   
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37 , further comprising:
 determining an identification for a second song in the audio stream;   receiving, through the web communications interface, a second interactive element associated with the identification of the second song;   creating a playlist, by the user interface, of a plurality of interactive elements; and   outputting, by a user interface, the playlist.   
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38 , further comprising:
 determining that the first interactive element and the second interactive element are different based on a fingerprint analysis; and   updating the playlist to include the first interactive element and the second interactive element.   
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein said determining an identification step comprises:
 recording a timestamp of the first advertisement; and   comparing, by a web communications interface, the time stamp to a meta data record of the audio stream.   
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein said determining an identification step comprises:
 analyzing embedded RDS or RBDS metadata from audio stream received by the broadcast communications interface.   
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein said determining an identification step comprises:
 receiving an embedded RDS or RBDS metadata trigger from the audio stream;   generating a fingerprint by initiating audio sampling from the audio stream for a predetermined period of time; and   matching the fingerprint to a song database.