RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/903,085, entitled “Methods and Systems for Interactive Queuing for Shared Listening Sessions based on User Satisfaction,” filed Jun. 16, 2020.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed embodiments relate generally to media playback, and, in particular, providing shared media playback sessions.

BACKGROUND

Access to electronic media, such as music and video content, has expanded dramatically over time. As a departure from physical media, media content providers stream media to electronic devices across wireless networks, improving the convenience with which users can digest and experience such content.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide shared listening sessions (also referred to throughout as shared playback sessions). In a shared listening session, a plurality of users can add media content to be played back to a group (either on a single presentation device, e.g., at a party, or on each user's individual device at remote locations). For example, each user participating in the shared listening session is able contribute to and control a collection of media content (e.g., a collectively-generated queue), which is played back simultaneously to each of the users in the group (either using a presentation system common to the group, such as a speaker in a room with all of the users, or separately, using the user's individual devices). In this way, each of a plurality of users is enabled to access, contribute to, and control playback of a shared queue.

A user participating in a shared listening session may feel that other users are “hogging the jukebox,” e.g., by adding more than their fair share of content items to the queue. Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods for queuing (ordering) media content items requested by different users fairly, so that individual users do not monopolize the content.

To address this problem, a method of ordering content added by a plurality of users to a shared listening session is provided. The method mitigates the problem of individual users monopolizing content in a shared listening session by storing an individual user queue for each user, and drawing from the individual user queues to produce a shared playback queue (e.g., a master queue). Any content that a user wants to add to the shared listening session is put into that user's individual user queue. The shared playback queue can be re-ordered or regenerated (e.g., fairly) whenever a user adds content to their respective individual queue. For example, one media content item (e.g., the first track in each user's individual queue) is drawn from each individual queue before taking a second media content item from any individual queue.

In accordance with some embodiments, a method is performed at an electronic device (e.g., associated with a media content provider) having one or more processors and memory storing instructions for execution by the one or more processors. The method includes generating a respective user queue for each user of a plurality of users participating in a shared listening session, the shared listening session having a shared playback queue comprising one or more media content items from the user queues, including a first media content item requested by a first user of the plurality of users. The method further includes, while providing the first media content item for playback in the shared listening session, receiving a second request, from the first user, to add a second media content item to the shared playback queue. The method includes, in response to the second request, updating the respective user queue for the first user to include the second media content item. The method further includes, after receiving the second request, receiving a third request, from a second user of the plurality of users, to add a third media content item to the shared playback queues and, in response to the third request, updating the respective user queue for the second user to include the third media content item. The method further includes updating the shared playback queue using the respective user queues of the first user and the second user, including positioning the third media content item in an order of the shared playback queue to be played back before the second media content item in the shared listening session. The method includes providing, for playback in the shared listening session, the third media content item based on the order of the shared playback queue.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device (e.g., a server system, a client device, etc.) includes one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one or more programs include instructions for performing the operations of the method described above. In accordance with some embodiments, a computer-readable storage medium has stored therein instructions that, when executed by an electronic device, cause the server system to perform the operations of the method described above.

