Content management apparatus
There is disclosed an apparatus configured to provide a chart of content items to a plurality of user devices. The apparatus is configured to enable individual users to temporarily access one or more content items listed in the chart. The apparatus comprises a user device interface configured to communicate with user device applications and a permissions module configured to define user access permissions, including temporary user access permissions, relating to individual ones of the one or more items of content. The apparatus also provides a distribution module configured to implement permissions defined in the permission module in relation to user devices by making available one or more items of content listed in the chart to at least one user device application.
1. A method of providing one or more items of content from a presentable list or chart to a plurality of user devices, comprising:
defining, at a server, user access permissions, including temporary user access permissions, relating to one or more items of content;
distributing to an application on a user device for storage thereon, the one or more items of content, as a plurality of fragments in a format capable of being played by the application providing temporary access to said one or more items of content by temporarily reconstituting a respective item of content from the plurality of constituent fragments based on the defined user access permissions; and
after distributing the one or more items of content in the fragmented format and in response to a permission change or purchase event, instructing said application to convert the plurality of fragments into a permanent reconstructed format.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising automatically updating the one or more items of content accessible to the user device during low levels of network traffic.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein defining user access permissions includes defining user accesses based one or more of the group consisting of: number of plays; number of streams; number of shares; and duration of availability to the user.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving the list or chart from one or more chart providers.
5. The method of claim 1 further comprising encrypting the one or more items of content data prior to transferring the one or more items of content data together with an encryption key to the user device.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising fragmenting each of the one or more items of content into the plurality of fragments.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein each component relates to a different recorded audible frequency range.
8. An article of manufacture comprising:
a non-transitory machine readable storage medium; and
a first set of executable program instructions embodied in the non-transitory machine readable storage medium that when executed by a programmable system cause the system to perform functions comprising:
defining user access permissions, including temporary user access permissions, relating to one or more items of content from a presentable list or chart;
distributing to an application on a user device for storage thereon, the one or more items of content as a plurality of fragments in a format capable of being played by the application providing temporary access to said one or more items of content by temporarily reconstituting a respective item of content from the plurality of constituent fragments based on the defined user access permissions; and
after distributing the one or more items of content in the fragmented format and in response to a permission change or purchase event, instructing the application to convert the plurality of fragments into a permanent reconstructed format.
9. The article of manufacture of claim 8 wherein the functions further comprise automatically updating the one or more items of content accessible to the user device during low levels of network traffic.
10. The article of manufacture of claim 8 wherein defining temporary user access permissions includes defining user accesses based one or more of the group consisting of: number of plays; number of streams; number of shares; and duration of availability to the user.
11. The article of manufacture of claim 8 further comprising the function of receiving the list or chart from one or more chart providers.
12. The article of manufacture of claim 8 further comprising the function of encrypting the one or more items of content data prior to transferring the one or more items of content data together with an encryption key to the user device.
13. The article of manufacture of claim 8 further comprising the function of fragmenting each of the one or more items of content into the plurality of fragments.
14. The article of manufacture of claim 13 wherein each component relates to a different recorded audible frequency range.