SERVICE PROVISION SYSTEM FOR ELECTRONIC MUSICAL APPARATUS

Abstract

An electronic musical instrument 1 and a portable terminal 2 are connected to a wireless LAN 3. The wireless LAN 3 is connected to an Internet 4 via a router. A distribution server 5 residing on the Internet 4 is a server which provides Internet services. A pairing between the electronic musical instrument 1 and the portable terminal 2 is established to conduct Internet communications in a pair. Processes from accessing the distribution server 5 to specifying a desired service are performed by use of the portable terminal 2. The distribution server 5 distributes data corresponding to the service specified by the portable terminal 2 to the electronic musical instrument 1. A user is thus allowed to use the desired service on the electronic musical instrument 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a conceptual illustration showing an overview of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example electric hardware configuration of an electronic musical instrument according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example procedure of a “pairing establishment process” according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating a first embodiment of the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example communications procedure among apparatuses according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram illustrating a second embodiment of the embodiment; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example communications procedure among apparatuses according to the second embodiment.

Claims

1. A service provision system for allowing an electronic musical apparatus to use a service provided by a server apparatus residing on a communications network, the service provision system comprising: a communications terminal capable of communicating with the server apparatus via the communications network;the communications terminal comprising:a service specifying portion for communicating with the server computer via the communications network and allowing a user to specify his desired service from among services provided by the server apparatus; andan informing portion for informing the electronic musical apparatus of a service specified by the service specifying portion;the electronic musical apparatus comprising:a service requesting portion for issuing a request for the service informed by the communications terminal to the server apparatus via the communications network; anda data obtaining portion for obtaining data corresponding to the service requested by the service requesting portion from the server apparatus via the communications network.

2. A service provision system according to claim 1, wherein the service specifying portion includesa displaying portion for displaying a screen for searching for a content item provided by the server apparatus to allow the user to conduct input operation necessary for searching for his desired content item,a transmitting portion for a search request corresponding to the input operation to the server apparatus, anda receiving portion for a search result by the server apparatus.

3. A service provision system according to claim 1, wherein the service specifying portion carries out communication between the communications terminal and the server apparatus.

4. A service provision system according to claim 1, wherein the communications terminal communicates with the server apparatus via the communications network by way of the electronic musical apparatus.

5. A service provision system according to claim 1, wherein the server requesting portion transmits ID information of the electronic musical apparatus to the server apparatus, andthe server apparatus receives the ID information transmitted from the electronic musical apparatus, carries out a process for protecting rights of a music content item by use of the received ID information and distributes the right-protected music content item to the electronic musical apparatus.

6. A service provision system according to claim 1, wherein the service specifying portion receives a ticket for using the service provided by the server apparatus from the server apparatus and transmits the received ticket to the electronic musical apparatus, andthe service requesting portion for issuing the request for the service with the received ticket to the server apparatus.

7. A service provision system according to claim 6, wherein the communications terminal further comprises a storing portion, andthe service specifying portion stores the received ticket temporally in the storing portion, and transmits the stored ticket later to the electronic musical apparatus.

8. A service provision system according to claim 1, wherein the communications terminal is a general-purpose communications terminal, andthe communications terminal acts as a communications terminal that communicates with the electronic musical apparatus by installing a software program for communicating with the electronic musical apparatus.

9. A service provision system according to claim 1, wherein the service specifying portion includes a graphical user interface contained in the communications terminal.

10. A service provision system according to claim 1, wherein the communications terminal further comprises a pairing establishing portion for establishing a pairing with a certain electronic musical apparatus.

11. A service provision system according to claim 1, wherein the service provided by a server apparatus is a service for distributing a musical content to the electronic musical apparatus.

12. A service provision system according to claim 1, wherein the service provided by a server apparatus is a service for providing a music lesson on the electronic musical apparatus via the communications network.

13. A service provision system according to claim 1, wherein the service provided by a server apparatus is a music cession service for providing a concert with other musical instruments residing on the communications network via the communications network.

14. A service provision system according to claim 1, wherein the electronic musical apparatus is an electronic musical instrument.

15. A service provision system according to claim 1, wherein the communications terminal is a portable terminal.

16. A service provision system according to claim 15, wherein the portable terminal is any one of a portable game machine, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistance and a tablet.