Recently, information processing apparatuses such as PCs, portable devices, and the like having a high-capacity storage unit such as a high-capacity hard disk, a DVD, or the like have spread. Many users using contents retain and manage a large amount of contents such as music data, image data, and the like in storage means. These pieces of data are stored as digital data compressed by for example MP3, ATRAC, or the like, and are encrypted as required and managed.
In addition, a form of use of contents is becoming common in which musical contents are downloaded from a music distribution server connected to a network and stored on a recording medium in a PC, and then output (checked out) to a portable device of a user when necessary to enjoy the contents being reproduced.
In such a form of use of contents, a large amount of contents is integrated and stored on a hard disk in a PC. As an application for performing processes of managing and reproducing such stored contents, there is a jukebox application typified by SonicStage (trademark), for example. Generally, such a content managing application manages contents by constructing a database relating content files, content attribute information, and content use right information set as required to each other. The content managing application allows content retrieval based on various attribute information, and implements a configuration for content use under a predetermined copyright management.
Such a jukebox application allows data retrieval and access based on various content information in order to improve retrievability when a large amount of albums including a plurality of musical pieces is stored within a database.
There is for example a jukebox application that allows retrieval and access with the name of an artist of an album as a key. Specifically, the jukebox application performs a retrieval process based on an artist name set as attribute information of an album stored in a database when a user inputs the artist name as a retrieving keyword, and performs a process of for example presenting information matching the input artist name on a display of a PC.
When musical contents are downloaded from a music distribution server and stored on a recording medium of the PC, for example, various attribute information and right information such as the name of an album, the name of an artist, musical piece length information, content use right information, and the like are provided to the user. Also, a process is performed to obtain content information recorded within a recording medium such as a CD or the like when contents are input from the CD and stored on the recording medium of the PC, or content information from an external server, and then store the content information as content management information in a storage unit of the PC. The jukebox application typified by SonicStage, for example, manages contents on the basis of the obtained information. Incidentally, Patent Document 1, for example, as a conventional technique discloses a process of obtaining content information.
However, content attribute information set in correspondence with musical data as content entities is generally full names of artists. The user is requested to input information corresponding to there pieces of set attribute information, that is, full names of artists as search keywords. However, users often do not remember spellings of foreign artists correctly, and there are not a few cases where users cannot remember names of even Japanese artists. In such cases, the function of data retrieval based on artist names cannot play its role sufficiently.
There is a retrieval service providing site that provides the service of a retrieval process based on an initial letter of an artist as an object of retrieval. In this case, however, since retrieval using an initial letter prepared in advance by a content provider as a key is performed, the name of an artist may not match with the user's intention, and thus retrieval that satisfies the user is not performed as intended.
An application performing data processing on contents managed by an individual such as the jukebox application typified by SonicStage, for example, requires a user to input an initial letter of each artist in order to enable retrieval using an initial letter. There is a method of using a first character of an artist name without managing initial letters separately. In this case, however, when only alphabetic characters A to Z, for example, are set as initial letter data, no alphabetic character can be associated with an artist written in Chinese characters or the like.
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2003-59244