shazam

Shazam, which has long been helping users identify songs, artists, and albums on other mobile platforms like the iPhone, BlackBerry phones, Nokia phones, and Android devices, now makes its Windows Mobile app store debut as a freemium application. That is, anyone can use the basics for free, but a few more-advanced features will cost you.

Here's what you can do for free: When you activate Shazam and hold the phone near the source of the recorded music, the app checks the sample against Shazam's online database and returns suggestions to you. The app also leads you to opportunities … Read more

Shazam, like other iPhone music apps, can identify the name, album, and artist of a song just by hearing it over your iPhone's microphone. You'll have to hold the iPhone mic close to the speaker for a few seconds as a song plays--on the radio, in a coffeeshop, or at a party. More often than not, Shazam will accurately report back with the song's name, and (if available) the album art, artist bio, related YouTube videos, and iTunes purchasing links. Also, it had some problems linking to the right YouTube video at times.

Shazam is gratifyingly fast … Read more

Shazam has fast become one of those must-have apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Not only can you use it for song identification, you can then recommend that song to a friend via e-mail, or watch a related music video on YouTube, or purchase the song via iTunes. You can also add a photo to the music tag for a visual reminder of where you first heard the song.

Well, along with the iPhone OS 3.0 firmware update, Shazam also released version 1.7, which has a number of added features. It now integrates with the GPS function … Read more

Correction 5/18: Gracenote was incorrectly listed as a partner of Shazam.

Earlier this week, a company called Tune Hunter accused music-finding service Shazam as well as a host of consumer electronics makers, wireless service operators, and digital music retailers of infringing on its patent on a music identification system.

Shazam is named along with Samsung, Apple, Amazon.com, Napster, Motorola, Gracenote, Verizon Wireless, LG Electronics, AT&T Mobility, and Pantech Wireless in a suit filed Tuesday over U.S. Patent No. 6,941,275, which was issued to Remi Swierczek/Tune Hunter in September 2005. The suit accuses … Read more

Shazam, a mobile music discovery service for the iPhone, T-Mobile G1, and other devices, announced Friday that it has added 20 million users since September and now has 35 million users worldwide.

Shazam's success is due in part to its availability. According to the company, its app can be found on phones offered by 75 carriers across 60 countries. Shazam users are tagging an average of 10 tracks per month, and the company claims that a total of 1 million tracks are being tagged monthly around the world. By the end of 2009, CEO Andrew Fisher expects the app … Read more

When Microsoft hired Qi Lu to run its online business last week, the company trumpeted the fact that Lu holds 20 patents.

Patents are far from rare at Microsoft--many developers and researchers hold them--but the online business has typically been led by people with a business or marketing background. That hasn't been working out too well, so it's putting a geek in charge.

The Seattle Post Intelligencer's Microsoft reporter, Joe Tartakoff, did a little digging on Tuesday to uncover exactly what kinds of patents Lu holds. Most interesting to me, one of them relates to music.

Specifically, … Read more

Mobile-music discovery provider Shazam announced on Thursday that it has increased its music database from 6 million tracks to 8 million tracks, thanks to new partnerships with record labels.

Shazam, which provides the fourth most popular Apple App Store download of 2008, behind competitor Pandora, at No. 1, analyzes songs playing through a stereo or radio, and displays the song's title, artist, biographical information, and a link to purchase the track.

According to the company, the new tracks added to the library include additional North American, Asian, and European content, and will be linked to Shazam's existing products, … Read more

I've blogged about it before, and there's nothing new to report, but let me say it again: if you're into music and you have an iPhone, you've got to download the free Shazam app.

My local cafe is a crowded collegiate place, but there's free Wi-Fi and they never kick you out as long as you order something, so sometimes I work there. I'm always able to identify the music that the young hipster staff's playing--Radiohead, Sigur Ros, your usual alt-ear candy--but today they've got some ugly psychedelic guitar noise going on … Read more

Shazam, the mobile music discovery provider made popular on the iPhone, announced Tuesday the launch of its mobile application for the Android platform.

Android users will be able to "discover" a song and connect to Amazon's MP3 store to buy it or network with the artist through MySpace.

Shazam is one of the most popular applications in Apple's App Store. After downloading Shazam onto the iPhone, people can hold their device toward an unknown song while the application is running. In just a few seconds, the Shazam technology will recognize the song and provide information about … Read more