Music identification and tagging service Shazam has announced a not-insignificant milestone, with users discovering five billion songs, TV shows and ads using the app.
Shazam is one of the leading media discovery services, letting users identify the name of a song or artist that’s playing on the radio or TV, simply by activating the app on their smartphone. If you’re curious, Pink’s new song, Blow Me One Last Kiss, marked the five billionth tag.
Whilst it is perhaps best known for its music discovery technology, Shazam’s expansion into television has opened the doors to new opportunities for the company, letting viewers engage with their favourite shows and ads for additional content and exclusive offers.
Following a hook-up with American Idol in April, Shazam lined up a landmark deal with British broadcaster ITV, promising to let viewers snap up products they like during ad breaks, using nothing but their smartphone and Shazam’s mobile app. The first of these ads featured during the Britain’s Got Talent grande finale on May 12.
The deal saw ITV become the exclusive UK distributor for Shazam-enabled broadcast advertising in the UK, and ITV also signed up Pepsi MAX and Cadbury as the first brands to offer viewers the chance to use Shazam during adverts.
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“We have invested in our technology and developed strong partnerships with broadcasters, brands, artists and music labels to provide our fans with the most innovative way to discover, explore and share the content that interests them most,” says Shazam CEO Andrew Fisher.
Shazam entered the broader media engagement realm last year, with the launch of its Shazam for TV service and has since gone on to work with more than 100 campaigns for global brands such as Pepsi, Procter and Gamble, Sony and Toyota.
Shazam is available for all the popular mobile platforms, include iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry. It currently claims 225 million users across 200 countries, adding another two million new users each week.
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