JP2004301884A - Karaoke recording and sales system - Google Patents

Abstract

Kind Code: A1 A karaoke recording / selling system capable of taking a flexible procedure for downloading karaoke recording data to a user computer via a communication network is provided.
A karaoke performance terminal creates a singing voice recording file by recording a singing voice of a user collected by a singing microphone together with the performance of karaoke accompaniment music, and supports the recording file with a user ID and a music ID. Means for storing the user ID, music ID, and recording file transferred from the karaoke performance terminal, and managing the music copyright information for each music ID. A copyright database for managing the sales information for each user ID, a means for communicating with a user computer accessed via a communication network to obtain a user ID, Means for transferring the recorded file stored in association with the user ID to the user computer, and transferring the recorded file to the user computer. And means for writing sales information to the corresponding user ID to the billing database with to transfer data.
[Selection diagram] Fig. 4

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a karaoke recording and selling system for recording and selling singing voices of karaoke users, and more particularly to a technique for storing recorded files in a host device and thereafter selling the recorded files to a user computer.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A karaoke recording service that can record the karaoke accompaniment music that is output as sound to the karaoke performance terminal as an optional service at a karaoke store and the singing voice of the user singing to the music on a suitable recording medium such as a CD. There is a place that offers.
[0003]
On the other hand, karaoke performance requires the permission of the copyright holder, and a royalty fee must be paid. On the other hand, karaoke recording involves recording karaoke accompaniment music and singing voice singing along with the music on a recording medium. Recording of accompaniment music itself is prohibited depending on the music, but it is generally regarded as a private recording act and a royalty fee is often unnecessary. However, it is possible to record only karaoke accompaniment music unless the user intentionally inputs sound into the microphone, and the created recorded recording medium can be reused for karaoke purposes. Allowing such an act could encourage the creation of unauthorized "pirated karaoke software". Therefore, karaoke recording requires complicated procedures and measures concerning copyright.
[0004]
Under such circumstances, the present applicant discloses a karaoke recording device having a recording function in consideration of copyright in Patent Document 1 below.
This technology includes a first recording input interface for acquiring an audio signal of karaoke accompaniment music, a second recording input interface for acquiring a singing voice acoustic signal from a microphone, and writing data to a portable recording medium. A data writing device, a unit for converting a mixed signal of an audio signal of karaoke accompaniment music and an audio signal of a singing voice into a recording file for each music piece, and a unit for writing the recording file to a portable recording medium by the data writing device Sound level detecting means for detecting whether or not there is substantially no sound signal from the second recording input interface during the performance of the karaoke accompaniment music, and the detection result by the sound level detecting means as appropriate as supplementary information of the recording file. Output means.
[0005]
According to such a technique, by selling a recording medium in which karaoke songs are recorded, the recording medium can be left at the user's hand, and a royalty can be collected according to the conditions of the copyright holder.
[0006]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2002-182667
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Many people use a service that can download music to a personal computer or mobile phone at home over the Internet. The present inventors thought that it would be popular if there was a service that could download karaoke recordings to a personal computer or mobile phone at home.
[0008]
In particular, the spread and performance of mobile phones in recent years have been remarkable. As a typical mobile phone usage method (service) mainly for young people, the ringtone download site is still in fashion and has not faded. The ringtones of new songs are being updated one after another. In addition, there are some “choke-go” that can be used as ringtones for celebrities and magazine models. Therefore, the present inventors thought that if there was a service that could record their own singing voice and use it as a ringtone (arrival) using a mobile phone as the user computer, it would be interesting and popular.
[0009]
On the other hand, handling karaoke recording data requires complicated procedures and measures concerning copyright as described above. However, even with the above-described conventional techniques, downloading of karaoke recording data to a user computer via a communication network is not assumed and cannot be handled.
[0010]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a karaoke recording and selling system which can take a flexible procedure for downloading karaoke recording data to a user computer via a communication network.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention relates to a karaoke recording and selling system in a communication karaoke system in which a host device and a number of karaoke performance terminals are connected by a communication network, wherein the karaoke performance terminals are used by singing microphones together with performance of karaoke accompaniment music. Means for recording a singing voice of the user to create a singing voice recording file, and means for transferring the recorded file to the host device in association with the user ID and the music ID. Means for storing user IDs, music IDs, and recorded files, a copyright database for managing music copyright information for each music ID, and a charging database for managing sales information for each user ID Means for communicating with a user computer accessed via a communication network to obtain a user ID; Means for transferring the recorded file stored in association with the user ID to the user computer, and writing the sales information for the corresponding user ID into the charging database with the transfer of the recorded file to the user computer. Means.
[0012]
Preferably, the host device includes data conversion means for processing the recording file transferred from the karaoke performance terminal and converting it into a data format of a ringtone for a mobile phone, and stores the converted data as a recording file for sale. I do.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
=== Overview of the system ===
In this embodiment, a mobile phone owned by a user is used as a user computer. First, a karaoke voice is recorded for a music piece reserved for a karaoke performance terminal using this mobile phone as a remote control transmitter to create a recording file of a predetermined format, which is transferred to a karaoke user support server (host device) and deposited. (Singing voice recording function). After the karaoke, the user is allowed to access the karaoke user support server using this mobile phone to download the recording file as a ringtone, and to charge the user (recording file selling function).
[0014]
FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a system using a karaoke user support server according to an embodiment of the present invention. The karaoke user support server 1 is a computer operated by a karaoke company. The server 1 also has a web server function, and is connected to the Internet 2 via an ISP or the like. The karaoke user support server 1 has a music index database 3 and a copyright database 4.
[0015]
In the song index database 3, attribute information of karaoke songs that can be used in the karaoke performance terminal 6, such as song names, artist names, genres, and singing songs, are collected and managed using song IDs as keys.
[0016]
Further, in the copyright database 4, information such as a copyright license number and a copyright fee for recording of each karaoke song is collected and managed using the song ID as a key.
[0017]
The karaoke user support server 1 allows the karaoke user support server 1 to browse the attribute information stored in the music index database 3 and select music in response to an access request sent from the mobile phone 7 connected to the Internet 2 via the Internet 2. Web content is running. The contents of the music index database 3 and the copyright database 4 of the server 1 are updated in accordance with the update of the karaoke database of the karaoke performance terminal 6. For example, at an appropriate communication opportunity with the karaoke host device, data reflecting the contents of the latest karaoke music is received and updated.
[0018]
The mobile phone 7 has a wireless interface such as a Bluetooth interface or an IrDA interface. In addition, it has a JAVA applet execution function, and can receive and execute a program from the karaoke user support server 1 as needed.
Note that the karaoke user support server 1 is also applicable to a configuration in which the karaoke user support server 1 is directly connected to the mobile communication network 8 without using the Internet 2 and performs data communication with the mobile phone 7 via the mobile communication network 8.
[0019]
The karaoke performance terminal 6 is a computer application device having a well-known configuration and equivalent to a personal computer. The central processing unit is a computer body including a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM, and includes a hard disk device as a large-capacity external storage, an optical disk device for reproducing a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM, and a karaoke host device via a public telephone line. A communication control device for communication, a user interface device (including a wireless interface) such as a remote control device or an operation panel of a main body for exchanging input from a user and a response to the user, and a music performance in a MIDI format A music generation device that generates an audio signal of accompaniment music based on data, an audio amplifier that amplifies an accompaniment music or an audio signal from a microphone and generates sound from a speaker, and a display using a CRT, LCD, PDP, or the like. A video processing device for processing video data to be displayed on the display. . It is well-known, except that a recording device having a recording singing function (described later) characteristic of the present invention is provided.
Here, the wireless interface provided in the karaoke performance terminal 6 or the mobile phone 7 is not limited to the IrDA interface. That is, the wireless signal transmitted from the mobile phone 7 to the karaoke performance terminal 6 is not limited to the IrDA signal, but another type of wireless signal such as a Bluetooth signal can be applied.
[0020]
The user accesses the karaoke user support server 1 via the Internet 2 with the mobile phone 7 owned by the user, searches for a song to sing in karaoke using the song index database 3 according to a predetermined interactive interface, and performs a karaoke performance. A performance reservation is made to the terminal 6. For example, a table of contents book program for providing a user interface with a user on the display of the mobile phone 7 is prepared on the server 1, and the mobile phone 7 downloads and uses this program. The table-of-contents program provides a user interface for searching for a requested piece of music using the music index database and transmitting a command to reserve recording when performing karaoke. When the user arrives at the music that he / she is looking for and performs a predetermined operation for reserving a karaoke performance and recording, an IrDA signal including a music reservation command for the music is transmitted to the karaoke performance terminal 6. The karaoke performance terminal 6 registers in the performance reservation queue based on the music reservation command.
Note that the recording reservation method is not limited to the method using the mobile phone 7 owned by the user as described above. A user interface that allows the user to designate a user ID and a music ID to reserve recording is provided by an operation panel of the karaoke performance terminal 6 or a remote control device common to the user such as a so-called electronic table of contents. The method of inputting a music reservation command including the user ID and the music ID to the karaoke performance terminal 6 is also within the scope of the present embodiment.
Hereinafter, the singing voice recording function and the recording file selling function and their user interfaces will be described.
[0021]
=== Singing voice recording function ===
FIG. 2 shows a processing flow diagram when the singing voice recording function is executed in the karaoke performance terminal 6. The music reservation command transmitted from the mobile phone 7 includes the music ID of the requested music and a user ID including a telephone number, a production number, and the like of the mobile phone of the transmission source. When the karaoke performance terminal 6 receives the music reservation command from the nearby mobile phone 7, the karaoke performance terminal 6 associates the music ID included in the command with the user ID and registers it in the performance reservation queue.
[0022]
In the karaoke performance terminal 6, when the performance of this music is started, the accompaniment music output as sound is input to the recording device, and the singing voice of the user singing along with the accompaniment music is collected from the microphone and input to the recording device ( Step 201 in FIG. 2). In the recording device, the accompaniment music and the singing voice are stored in an appropriate memory as recording data in the ADPCM format (step 202). After the performance ends, the recording data is transferred to the karaoke user support server 1 together with the music ID and the user ID associated with the performance reservation queue (steps 203 to 204).
[0023]
The karaoke user support server 1 converts the recording data received from the karaoke performance terminal 6 into an appropriate format (in this embodiment, an MP3 format that can be used for a ringing melody of a mobile phone) and stores it in a memory. The location information is associated with the music ID and the user ID, and stored and managed as a recording file. FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of the recording file. As shown in this figure, when the music file and the user ID are specified, the location information of the recording data associated with these is identified, and the recording data can be retrieved from the memory based on the location information. .
[0024]
=== Recorded file sales function ===
The user who has recorded the singing voice according to the above procedure accesses the karaoke user support server 1 from home or the like using his / her mobile phone 7 and specifies the recording file to be downloaded according to the user interface. The recording file sales program required at this time is also prepared in the server 1, and by accessing and downloading with the mobile phone 7, the recording file sales function can be used.
[0025]
FIG. 4 shows a processing flowchart when the recording file selling function is executed. FIG. 5 shows an example of a screen displayed on the display of the mobile phone 7 when the recording file selling function is used. When the mobile phone 7 accesses the karaoke user support server 1, the karaoke user support server 1 requests the transfer of the user ID via the user interface (step 401 in FIG. 4, and (A) in FIG. 5). Authentication is performed based on the ID (step 402). This authentication may be performed by a method in which the user inputs a user ID, or a method in which when the mobile phone 7 accesses the server 1, the user ID is automatically read from a wireless signal to perform authentication. There may be.
[0026]
As a result of the authentication, if the user is authenticated by the singing voice recording function as a user who has already recorded the singing voice, a list of music pieces associated with the user ID is displayed on the display of the mobile phone 7. For example, a list of song names is displayed based on the song ID (B). When the user specifies a music piece from among the music pieces (step 403), the server 1 confirms whether or not the music piece can be sold and its copyright fee with reference to the copyright database 4 (steps 404 to 405). (C).
[0027]
When the user desires to download the recording file of the music specified by the user, the server 1 refers to the location information of the recording data and transfers the recording data to the mobile phone 7 (steps 406 to 407). Also, the accounting information including the copyright fee for the recorded file is stored in the memory in association with the user ID, and managed as the accounting database 5 (step 408).
[0028]
Then, based on the information in the billing database 5, the user is required to pay the fee for downloading the recording file at an appropriate opportunity, for example, in cooperation with the business operator of the mobile phone 7 and charging when the mobile phone 7 is charged. I do. When it is confirmed that the payment has been made, the paid information is updated and registered in the charging database 5.
[0029]
=== Other Embodiments ===
The present invention is also applicable to a configuration in which a user computer connected to the mobile phone 7 is downloaded via the mobile phone 7. Also in this case, authentication is performed using the user ID of the mobile phone 7 as the user ID.
[0030]
As for the data format of the recorded data, a method of appropriately converting the data into a format usable by the user computer when downloading the data from the karaoke user support server 1 to the user computer is also possible.
[0031]
【The invention's effect】
ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to the karaoke recording / selling system according to the present invention, a karaoke recording that requires complicated procedures for copyright can be downloaded to a user computer via a communication network. Therefore, the karaoke recording can be easily used on the user computer including the ring melody of the mobile phone, thereby creating a new way of enjoying karaoke. Therefore, the effect of increasing the number of karaoke users can be expected.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a karaoke recording and selling system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a processing flowchart when a singing voice recording function is executed in the karaoke performance terminal according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a recording file according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a processing flowchart when a recording file selling function is executed in the karaoke user support server according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display when a recorded file is sold according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Karaoke user support server (host device)
4 Copyright database 5 Billing database 6 Karaoke performance terminal 7 Mobile phone (user computer)

Claims (2)

A karaoke recording and sales system in a communication karaoke system in which a host device and a number of karaoke performance terminals are connected by a communication network,
The karaoke performance terminal is a means for recording a singing voice of a user collected by a singing microphone together with the performance of the karaoke accompaniment music to create a singing voice recording file, and associating the recording file with a user ID and a music ID to host Means for transferring to the device,
The host device stores a user ID, a music ID, and a recording file transferred from the karaoke performance terminal; a copyright database for managing music copyright information for each music ID; A billing database for managing sales information, a means for communicating with a user computer accessed via a communication network to obtain a user ID, and a recording file stored in association with the obtained user ID Means for transferring the recording information to the user computer, and means for writing the sales information to the corresponding user ID in the charging database along with transferring the recording file to the user computer,
A karaoke recording and sales system characterized by that. 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising data conversion means for processing the recording file transferred from the karaoke performance terminal and converting it into a data format of a ringing melody for a mobile phone. A karaoke recording and sales system that is stored as a karaoke.

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