Conditions for starting the playback of the next cut in the middle of the cut of a drama are assumed to be such that, for the first cut, a viewer/listener blinks two times in the detection time zone, and for the second cut, the pupil diameter of the viewer/listener has become 8 mm or more in the detection time zone. The CPU of a playback apparatus determines whether or not the conditions are satisfied when the cut is played back, and when the conditions are satisfied, the playback of the next cut is started even in the middle of the cut. In the case of music, when the rhythm of the respiration of the viewer/listener or the motion of the body is not in tune with the rhythm of the music, the playback of the next music is started even in the middle of the music.