Music Matching System

Abstract

To provide a system for matching fans who wish to support their favorite artists by purchasing their music files with users who wish to listen to the music. [Solution] A music matching system 10 that connects multiple users 4, comprising a purchase processing unit 12 that enables a fan of a specific artist 6, who is one of the multiple users 4, to purchase and download a specific number of music files of the artist 6, a matching processing unit 14 that matches the number of music files purchased and downloaded by the purchase processing unit 12 (the number of purchased music files minus 1) to transfer those music files to other users who want them, a point allocation processing unit 16 that awards points to the fan according to the number of music files purchased, and a ranking processing unit 18 that ranks the fan among other fans based on the number of points.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a music matching system. [Background technology]

[0002] In the past, one of the business models for the music industry was for artists to make CDs of their music and sell them to their fans to make money. However, with the spread of digital music, it has become easy to enjoy music without buying CDs. This has led to a sharp decline in the income that the music industry can make.

[0003] As a countermeasure to this situation, for example, when selling CDs of idols, bonuses such as handshake tickets are given, which induces fans who are fans of the idol to buy multiple copies of the same CD, artificially inflating the number of CD sales.

[0004] As a technique related to the present invention, for example, Patent Document 1 describes a system for transferring rights of a digital work readable by a plurality of devices in a system for exercising rights, in which at least one of the plurality of devices has a storage means for storing a digital work, and a rights assignment means for storing at least one usage right of the digital work stored in the storage means, the usage right defining for each device how a party may access the digital work, and a delegation right of the digital work stored in the storage means, the delegation right defining for each device how a party may distribute the digital work to other users; A system is disclosed in which the parties' usage rights and delegation rights are identified based on a user identity, user position, or user status, and at least one of the plurality of devices has a rights management means for defining for each device the parties' authority to transfer rights in the digital work to a third party by granting delegation rights to the parties, and the rights management means is configured to receive a request generated by a device to transfer at least one of the usage rights and delegation rights, determine whether the transfer is possible based on the delegation rights, and transfer at least one of the usage rights and delegation rights to the third party if it is determined that the transfer is possible based on the delegation rights.

[0005] Patent Document 2 also discloses an information processing method in which authentication information including the artist name, title, jacket image, matrix number, and image data of the matrix number of an analog record is stored in a memory unit, and an authentication certificate including the artist name, title, jacket image, matrix number, and image data of the matrix number of the analog record is generated based on the authentication information stored in the memory unit, the generated authentication certificate is stored in association with a certificate ID, a Certificate NFT corresponding to the stored authentication certificate is generated on a blockchain system, the generated Certificate NFT is issued to a user who purchased the analog record, and the authentication certificate in the Certificate NFT, information about the artist of the analog record corresponding to the authentication certificate in the Certificate NFT, or content related to the music included on the analog record is output to a user terminal of the user. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] JP 2010-186484 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2023-165019 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] When CDs are sold with the bonus of a handshake ticket as described above, even if the same person purchases multiple copies in bulk, the music they listen to is the same, so one CD is enough and the remaining CDs often become dust.

[0008] An object of the present invention is to provide a system that matches fans who wish to support their favorite artists by purchasing their music files with users who wish to listen to the music. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The music matching system of the present invention is a music matching system that connects multiple users, and is characterized by having a purchase processing unit that allows a fan among the multiple users who supports a specific artist to purchase and download a specific number of music files of the artist, a matching processing unit that matches the number of music files purchased and downloaded by the purchase processing unit (the number of purchases minus 1) to be transferred to other users who want the music files, a point allocation processing unit that awards points to the fan according to the number of music files purchased, and a ranking processing unit that ranks the fan among other fans based on the number of points.

[0010] In addition, it is preferable that the music matching system according to the present invention further comprises a reward processing unit that gives a benefit to the fan according to the ranking.

[0011] In addition, in the music matching system of the present invention, it is preferable that the matching processing unit shares requests from the other users who want the music files with the fans, and the purchasing processing unit purchases the predetermined number of the music files determined by the fans in response to the requests from the other users. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to match fans who wish to support their favorite artists by purchasing their music files with users who wish to listen to their music. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an artist support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following, the same elements in all the drawings are given the same reference numerals, and duplicated explanations will be omitted. In addition, in the explanation in the text, the reference numerals previously described will be used as necessary.

[0015] 1 is a diagram showing a music matching system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The music matching system 10 is a system for supporting artists 6 recommended by users 4. The music matching system 10 is connected to a plurality of users 4 and a plurality of artists 6 via a network 2.

[0016] Each user 4 and each artist 6 are connected via network 2 using a computer, smartphone, tablet device, etc.

[0017] The music matching system 10 includes a purchase processing unit 12 , a matching processing unit 14 , a point-granting processing unit 16 , a ranking processing unit 18 , a return processing unit 20 , and a storage unit 22 .

[0018] The purchase processing unit 12 has a function for a fan of a specific artist 6, who is one of a plurality of users 4, to purchase and download a specific number of music files of the artist 6. A music file refers to music data stored in a digital format. Specifically, the purchase processing unit 12 purchases a specific number (e.g., 50 songs) of music files determined by the fan (user 4) based on a request from another user 4.

[0019] Music files can be played on devices such as computers, smartphones, tablets, etc. There are several formats for music files, the most common of which are MP3, WAV, FLAC, and AAC.

[0020] MP3 is the most common music file format, and is one of the audio compression methods used in the video data compression method MPEG-1. MP3 uses a lossy compression method that achieves a high compression rate by thinning out data that is difficult for humans to perceive, and can compress data volume while maintaining sound quality comparable to that of a music CD. MP3 is supported by many devices due to its high compression rate and small file size.

[0021] WAV is an uncompressed music file format that has high sound quality but large file size. Because it is uncompressed, you can enjoy music with almost the same sound quality as a music CD. The size is about 50MB for a 5-minute file. There are several recording resolutions, but if it is recorded at 44.1kHz, 16-bit, stereo, it is essentially the same quality as a regular music CD.

[0022] FLAC is a lossless compression format that can reduce file size while maintaining sound quality. The data size is about half that of the original sound, making it one of the high-resolution sound sources. It is a lossless compression file format that has high sound quality and can be restored even after conversion.

[0023] AAC has a data size of about one-tenth of the original sound, which is slightly smaller than MP3 but has good sound quality. AAC is a lossy compression file format that cannot be restored once compressed (converted).

[0024] In recent years, listening to music on smartphones and other devices using the above music files has become mainstream, and is a big change from the days when music was mainly enjoyed using music CDs. Music CDs are optical discs that have a thin metal film or organic dye material sandwiched between protective layers such as polycarbonate or glass, and are recording media that use laser light to read and write data. Music CDs were developed as a medium for recording music to replace traditional records, and later derived standards were developed for recording data for computers.

[0025] The matching processing unit 14 has a function of performing matching for transferring free of charge the music files purchased by download processing unit 12 to other users 4 who want the music files, the number of which is the purchase number minus 1.

[0026] Specifically, there is a user 4 who likes music, but is not a huge fan of artist A 6. Since purchasing music files costs money, there is also a user 4 who would like to obtain them for free. Such a user 4 uses the functions of the matching processing unit 14 to register a desire to obtain music files for free, using his or her own smartphone or tablet device.

[0027] For example, if there are 100 users 4 who wish to obtain songs by artist A 6 for free, each user 4 using the music matching system 10 can grasp the situation and can consider the number of songs to give as gifts to others depending on the situation.

[0028] The point-granting processing unit 16 has a function of granting points to fans according to the number of music files purchased. For example, one point is awarded for purchasing one song for distribution as a gift.

[0029] The ranking processing unit 18 has the function of ranking fans (users 4) among other fans (users 4) according to the number of points purchased by the fan (user 4) through the purchase processing unit 12, and making this ranking available for viewing by each user 4 and each artist 6.

[0030] For example, suppose that a fan of artist A, Mr. A, purchases one song for himself and 15 songs to give away as gifts, another fan of the same artist, Mr. B, purchases one song for himself and 45 songs to give away as gifts, and another fan of the same artist, Mr. C, purchases one song for himself and 100 songs to give away as gifts. In such a case, it is possible to provide 155 songs as free gift songs to 155 users 4.

[0031] In the above example, A has 15 songs for the gift distribution, so he gets 15 points, B has 40 songs for the gift distribution, so he gets 40 points, and C has 100 songs for the gift distribution, so he gets 100 points. Therefore, the ranking of the three people, A, B, and C, is C in 1st place, B in 2nd place, and A in 3rd place.

[0032] The reward processing unit 20 has a function of giving back to fans (users 4) according to the rankings given by the ranking processing unit 18. As a privilege for the first place ranking, a premium ticket that allows the closest viewing to a concert of the artist 6 can be set. Fans (users 4) of the artist 6 who are considering using the music matching system 10 to support their favorite artist 6 are often so-called enthusiastic fans, and by making good use of the rankings, it is possible to effectively stimulate their competitive spirit.

[0033] When there are many fans participating in the ranking, the rewards for fans with low rankings can be set to relatively inexpensive items such as autographed T-shirts and fans, while the rewards for fans with high rankings can be set to musical instruments such as autographed guitars. It is also possible to issue the right for fans to have a meal with the artist 6 as a reward.

[0034] The storage unit 22 can store information about each user 4 and each artist 6, a point account owned by each user 4, and credit information for each user 4.

[0035] In the music matching system 10, each function other than the storage unit 22 can be realized by either a hardware configuration or a software configuration.

[0036] For example, when these functions are realized by software, they can be realized by the operation of a program (application software) stored in a recording medium such as RAM, ROM, or a hard disk on a server device configured with a CPU or MPU, RAM, ROM, etc.

[0037] Next, a description will be given of the operation of the music matching system 10 configured as above. In the 1990s, the Japanese music market entered an unprecedented boom period, supported by a strong demand for music, mainly among young people, due to the widespread use of playback devices, tie-up strategies with popular TV dramas and commercials, the karaoke boom, and the like.

[0038] In 1997, single sales hit a record of 167,827,000 copies, and the following year, 1998, CD album sales peaked at 302,913,000 copies, with a string of million-sellers, creating a boom that was later referred to in the media as the "CD bubble." However, sales began to decline from 1999, and it looked like the bubble had burst.

[0039] The number of CDs sold annually has been gradually declining since peaking in 1998, falling to less than half in 2008, at 242,212,000 units, and then to 137,205,000 units in 2018.

[0040] For CD singles, there has been a shift towards digital downloads via music distribution since 2006. The situation is even more serious for CD albums, which have gradually declined from 276,279,000 units sold in 1999, when statistics began, to 88,964,000 units in 2019, below 100 million units and one-third of the peak. On top of that, the shift to digital downloads has been sluggish since the 2010s, and the decline in total demand has not been halted.

[0041] Since 2015, subscription-based fixed-fee music distribution (streaming distribution) has taken the place of download sales, which have generally been in a slump, and has continued to exceed download sales since 2018. This is also notable when viewed from a global perspective, and according to the Recording Industry Association of America, streaming service sales in the first half of 2019 were US$4.3 billion, accounting for 80% of the entire US market. This can be seen as a change in values, especially among young people, as music has shifted from something to be "owned" to something to be "shared."

[0042] In Japan, not only is there a CD slump, but the subscription services that are popular overseas are also not well-established, so if this situation continues, there is a risk that the Japanese music industry will decline. One of the countermeasures is to give away handshake tickets as a bonus when selling idol music CDs, so that fans who are following their idols will buy the same CDs in large quantities, and artificially inflate the number of CD sales.

[0043] In such a business model, even if one fan purchases a large number of the same CDs, one copy is enough for him / her to listen to, and the remaining CDs become waste, resulting in a situation where the apparent sales figures and rankings are not in accord with reality. In response to such problems, the music matching system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention exerts a remarkable effect.

[0044] There are enthusiastic fans (users 4) who support artists, but there are also users 4 who simply want to listen to music. Some of the users 4 who want to listen to music want to listen to music for free, so they can use the function of the matching processing unit 14 of the music matching system 10 to register their desire to download music files for free.

[0045] For example, suppose that Mr. Alpha, an avid fan of artist 6, A, learns through music matching system 10 that 1,000 users 4 want to obtain music files by artist 6, A, for free, and purchases 100 music files for download in order to support artist 6.

[0046] When another enthusiastic fan, β, purchases and downloads 120 music files for artist 6, β is ranked higher than α by the ranking processing unit 18. Upon learning of this situation, α, in order to compete with β, can purchase an additional 30 music files and aim to be ranked higher than β.

[0047] In this way, songs purchased by enthusiastic fans to distribute as free gifts are provided to users 4 who wish to obtain them for free. By counting the number of music files actually provided for free in this way, the number of music files matches the number of people who actually listen to them, so by using this to generate hit chart rankings, it is possible to create charts that are more realistic.

[0048] Furthermore, with the music matching system 10, there is no need to create music CDs that end up becoming trash as in the past, and an infrastructure is in place that provides music free of charge to users 4 who simply want to listen to music for free, resulting in the remarkable effect of curbing criminal activities such as illegal downloading.

[0049] The following functions can be added to the music matching system 10. A user 4 can add gift points to the number of songs to be distributed as gifts to other users 4. For example, a user 4 can pay 30 points for downloading each song in the number of songs to be distributed as gifts.

[0050] As a result, users 4 who wish to obtain songs for free can not only obtain the song for free, but also earn 30 points. This, coupled with the desire for points, encourages users 4 who wish to obtain songs for free to accelerate their downloading actions. Points are not awarded simply by downloading; points are only awarded if the user 4 who downloaded the song listens to the song at least once to the end at a certain volume. This makes it possible to eliminate downloads that are simply for the purpose of earning points. In addition, users 4 who distribute gifts can set the condition for points to be awarded as following an artist they support. This allows users to support artists by increasing their number of followers.

[0051] As described above, the user 4 who gives the song as a gift can set the points to be awarded according to the downloads, and since the ranking is determined according to these points, the users 4 who are enthusiastic fans compete with each other to set points, which increases the number of downloads and leads to support for the artist. Note that, although it has been explained here that points are awarded according to downloads, the user 4 can freely decide whether or not to award points. [Explanation of symbols]

[0052] 2 network, 4 user, 6 artist, 10 music matching system, 12 purchase processing unit, 14 matching processing unit, 16 point allocation processing unit, 18 ranking processing unit, 20 return processing unit, 22 memory unit.

Claims

1. A music matching system that connects multiple users, a purchase processing unit for allowing a fan of a specific artist, who is one of the plurality of users, to purchase and download a specific number of music files of the artist; a matching processing unit that performs matching for transferring the music files, which is equal to the number of purchases of the music files downloaded and purchased by the purchase processing unit minus 1, to other users who desire the music files; a point-giving processing unit that gives points to the fan according to the number of purchases of the music files; a ranking processing unit that ranks the fan among other fans based on the number of points; A music matching system comprising:

2. 2. The music matching system according to claim 1, An artist support system comprising a return processing unit that gives benefits to said fans according to their rankings.

3. 2. The music matching system according to claim 1, The matching processing unit shares requests from the other users who want the music file with the fans; The music matching system is characterized in that the purchase processing unit purchases the predetermined number of music files determined by the fan in response to a request from the other user.

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