| CPC H04N 21/42225 (2013.01) [G08C 17/02 (2013.01); H04L 12/2818 (2013.01); H04L 12/2825 (2013.01); H04L 61/25 (2013.01); H04L 67/125 (2013.01); H04L 67/142 (2013.01); G08C 2201/92 (2013.01); G08C 2201/93 (2013.01); H04L 61/45 (2022.05)] | 20 Claims |

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1. A method of controlling media playback by network-connected media player devices, the method comprising:
receiving, by a network service server system, a request from a remote control application to authorize the remote control application to be associated with a user account maintained by the network service server system, wherein the remote control application is executed on a mobile device;
determining, by the network service server system, that the user account includes permissions for a plurality of media player devices;
transmitting, by the network service server system, a unique group identifier to the remote control application, wherein the unique group identifier is associated with multiple media player devices of the plurality of media player devices;
receiving, by the network service server system, via the Internet, a media playback command from the remote control application, wherein the media playback command comprises the unique group identifier and control information, wherein the control information includes data that controls playback of media content by a media player device; and
controlling, by the network service server system, and in response to receiving the media playback command, a concurrent media playback by the multiple media player devices by transmitting the control information to the multiple media player devices.
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