Abstract: A method of generating a display of media items includes selecting a set of icons and text items representing a set of search elements. The search elements are selected and arranged by a user on a display of the user interface. A query mapper translates the set of search elements into a set of keywords and initially weights the keywords. The keywords are scaled based on information obtained from a user preference database. A weighted query using the set of keywords and the weightings for the keywords is constructed in the query mapper and sent to a search engine. An ordered list of recommendations is provided to the user for selection of an item to playback.