US Patent 7562392 Methods of interacting with audio and ambient music

The present invention relates generally to interacting with audio and ambient music, e.g., as obtained by a handheld device such as a cell phone. One combination includes: receiving electronic signals representing ambient music captured with a microphone in a user device; transferring the electronic signals representing the ambient music to a processor; receiving from the processor data derived from the electronic signals; using said data to obtain information from a database, said information relating to the ambient music; and providing at least textual information to a user about the ambient music, said provided textual information being based at least in part on information obtained from the database. This combination may also provide to the user a pointer to an online site, the online site including third-party reviews of content. A related combination may provide to the user a pointer to an online site that provides streaming media content associated with the ambient music. Still another related combination may provide to the user a pointer to dynamic user metadata associated with the ambient music. Of course, other combinations are provided and claimed as well.