Abstract: According to aspects of the technology there are provided a computer-implemented method for generating a content stream comprising a plurality of content items from one or more content sources, the method comprising: defining one or more instances in each content item of the plurality of content items based on one or more parameters; defining one or more of the instances in each content item as a start point from which to commence playback of the content item; and playing back the content item from the defined start point.

Abstract: According to aspects of the technology there are provided a computer-implemented method for distributing content from one or more content sources over a communications network to a plurality of content players each associated with a user of a content distribution system, the method comprising: receiving a content directory associated with a plurality of content items of the one or more content sources, the content directory comprising content location data for the plurality of content items and information associated with each content item; retrieving the content items using the received user content location data from the one or more content sources for seamless playback of the selected content items; associating the content items with one or more related content items; and distributing the one or more related content items to each of the plurality of content players when the content item is being played back.

Abstract: According to aspects of the technology there are provided a method for generating a content stream for playback on one or more content players from one or more content sources, the method comprising: receiving a content directory associated with a plurality of content items of the one or more content sources, the content directory comprising content location data for the plurality of content items and information associated with each content item; generating a playlist of content items based on content items in the content directory for user playback; receiving user feedback data from the content player for the user during playback, wherein the user feedback comprises data indicating a user has rejected playback of the one or more content items; and constructing a user profile of the user based on the user feedback data.