Method and system for supplying contents via communication network

A contents supply method by which regular contents and sample contents are supplied from a server to a client via a communication network, the regular contents comprising data of a music piece in reproducible form, the sample contents comprising data of part of the music piece in reproducible form, said contents supply method comprising:

• a first step of causing said server to prompt a user of said client to select the music piece reproducible on the basis of the regular contents or the sample contents and to make a request for supply of the regular contents or the sample contents;
• a second step of causing said server to receive the request for supply of the regular contents or the sample contents of the music piece selected by the user which is transmitted to said server by said client in response to prompting via said first step;
• and
• a third step of causing said server to transmit the sample contents to said client via a transmission line if said second step has received the request for supply of the sample contents, or transmitting the regular contents to said client via the transmission line if said second step has received the request for supply of the regular contents;
• wherein said first step further prompts the user to make a request for supply of profile information representative of a profile of a music piece,
• wherein said second step also receives the request for supply of profile information of the music piece selected by the user that is transmitted to said server by said client, and
• wherein said third step transmits the profile information to said client when said second step has received the request for supply of profile information.

A contents supply method by which regular contents and sample contents are supplied from a server to a client via a communication network, the regular contents comprising data of a music piece in reproducible form, the sample contents comprising data of part of the music piece in reproducible form, wherein said server is capable of supplying said client with a plurality of music pieces, each of the plurality of music pieces belonging to any one of a plurality of channels, said contents supply method comprising:

• a first step of prompting the user of said client to select one of the channels;
• a second step of causing said server to prompt a user of said client to select the music piece reproducible on the basis of the regular contents or the sample contents and to make a request for supply of the regular contents or the sample contents;
• a third step of causing said server to receive the request for supply of the regular contents or the sample contents of the music piece selected by the user which is transmitted to said server by said client in response to prompting via said second step;
• and
• a fourth step of causing said server to transmit the sample contents to said client via a transmission line if said third step has received the request for supply of the sample contents, or transmitting the regular contents to said client via the transmission line if said third step has received the request for supply of the regular contents;
• wherein said second step prompts the user of said client to select one of the music pieces belonging to the channel selected by the user in response to prompting via said first step.

A contents supply method by which regular contents and sample contents are supplied from a server to a client via a communication network, the regular contents comprising data of a music piece in reproducible form, the sample contents comprising data of part of the music piece in reproducible form, said contents supply method comprising:

• a first step of causing said server to prompt a user of said client to select the music piece reproducible on the basis of the regular contents or the sample contents and to make a request for supply of the regular contents or the sample contents;
• a second step of causing said server to receive the request for supply of the regular contents or the sample contents of the music piece selected by the user which is transmitted to said server by said client in response to prompting via said first step;
• and
• a third step of causing said server to transmit the sample contents to said client if said second step has received the request for supply of the sample contents, or transmitting the regular contents to said client if said second step has received the request for supply of the regular contents;
• wherein said third step supplies said client with the sample contents by streaming transmission via a communication line, and said third step supplies said client with the regular contents by downloading via the communication line.

A server apparatus for supplying regular contents and sample contents to a client via a communication network, the regular contents comprising data of a music piece in reproducible form, the sample contents comprising data of part of the music piece in reproducible form, said server apparatus comprising:

• a processor adapted to:
• transmit information for prompting a user of said client to select the music piece reproducible on the basis of the regular contents or the sample contents and to make a request for supply of the regular contents or the sample contents;
• receive the request for supply of the regular contents or the sample contents of the music piece selected by the user which is transmitted to said server by said client;
• and
• transmit the sample contents to said client in response to receipt of the request for supply of the sample contents, or transmit the regular contents to said client in response to receipt of the request for supply of the regular contents;
• wherein the regular contents transmitted to said client are transmitted by said server apparatus along with additional information unique to the regular contents via a communication line;
• and
• wherein the sample contents transmitted to said client are transmitted by said server apparatus without the additional information via the communication line.

A contents reception method by which regular contents and sample contents are received from a server by a client via a communication network, the regular contents comprising data of a music piece in reproducible form, the sample contents comprising data of part of the music piece in reproducible form, said contents reception method comprising:

• a first step of causing said client to connect to said server;
• a second step of, on the basis of a response from said server, causing said client to prompt a user to select the music piece reproducible on the basis of the regular contents or the sample contents and to make a request for supply of the regular contents or the sample contents;
• a third step of causing said client to transmit the request for supply of the regular contents or the sample contents of the music piece selected by the user in response to prompting via said second step;
• and
• a fourth step of causing said client to receive the sample contents or the regular contents of the music piece corresponding to the request for supply transmitted via said third step;
• wherein the regular contents received by said client via said fourth step are received by said client along with additional information unique to the regular contents via a communication line;
• and
• wherein the sample contents received by said client via said fourth step are received by said client without the additional information via the communication line.

A contents reception method by which regular contents and sample contents are received from a server by a client via a communication network, the regular contents comprising data of a music piece in reproducible form, the sample contents comprising data of part of the music piece in reproducible form, said contents reception method comprising:

• a first step of causing said client to connect to said server;
• a second step of, on the basis of a response from said server, causing said client to prompt a user to select the music piece reproducible on the basis of the regular contents or the sample contents and to make a request for supply of the regular contents or the sample contents;
• a third step of causing said client to transmit the request for supply of the regular contents or the sample contents of the music piece selected by the user in response to prompting via said second step;
• and
• a fourth step of causing said client to receive the sample contents or the regular contents of the music piece corresponding to the request for supply transmitted via said third step via a communication line;
• wherein said second step further prompts the user to make a request for supply of profile information representative of a profile of a music piece,
• wherein said third step also receives the request for supply of profile information of the music piece selected by the user, and
• wherein said fourth step transmits the profile information to said client when said third step has received the request for supply of profile information.

A contents reception method by which regular contents and sample contents are received from a server by a client via a communication network, the regular contents comprising data of a music piece in reproducible form, the sample contents comprising data of part of the music piece in reproducible form, wherein said client is capable of receiving a plurality of music pieces, each of the plurality of music pieces belonging to any one of a plurality of channels, said contents reception method comprising:

• a first step of prompting the user of said client to select one of the channels,
• a second step of causing said client to connect to said server;
• a third step of, on the basis of a response from said server, causing said client to prompt a user to select the music piece reproducible on the basis of the regular contents or the sample contents and to make a request for supply of the regular contents or the sample contents;
• a fourth step of causing said client to transmit the request for supply of the regular contents or the sample contents of the music piece selected by the user in response to prompting via said third step;
• and
• a fifth step of causing said client to receive the sample contents or the regular contents of the music piece corresponding to the request for supply transmitted via said fourth step via a communication line;
• wherein said third step prompts the user of said client to select one of the music pieces belonging to the channel selected by the user in response to prompting via said first step.

A contents reception method by which regular contents and sample contents are received from a server by a client via a communication network, the regular contents comprising data of a music piece in reproducible form, the sample contents comprising data of part of the music piece in reproducible form, said contents reception method comprising:

• a first step of causing said client to connect to said server;
• a second step of, on the basis of a response from said server, causing said client to prompt a user to select the music piece reproducible on the basis of the regular contents or the sample contents and to make a request for supply of the regular contents or the sample contents;
• a third step of causing said client to transmit the request for supply of the regular contents or the sample contents of the music piece selected by the user in response to prompting via said second step;
• and
• a fourth step of causing said client to receive the sample contents or the regular contents of the music piece corresponding to the request for supply transmitted via said third step;
• wherein said fourth step receives the sample contents by streaming via a transmission line, and said fourth step receives the regular contents by downloading via the transmission line.

A client apparatus for receiving regular contents and sample contents from a server via a communication network, the regular contents comprising data of a music piece in reproducible form, the sample contents comprising data of part of the music piece in reproducible form, said client apparatus comprising a processor adapted to perform the steps of:

• connecting said client apparatus to said server via said communication network;
• on the basis of a response from said server, prompting a user to select the music piece reproducible on the basis of the regular contents or the sample contents and to make a request for supply of the regular contents or the sample contents;
• transmitting the request for supply of the regular contents or the sample contents of the music piece selected by the user to said server;
• and
• receiving the sample contents or the regular contents of the music piece from said server in correspondence with the transmitted request for supply;
• wherein the regular contents are received by said client apparatus along with additional information unique to the regular contents via a communication line;
• and
• wherein the sample contents are received by said client apparatus without the additional information via the communication line.