We first covered SoundHound last May, as its new voice app ‘Hound’ sought to change the way we search.
Just to recap, SoundHound launched as an interesting competitor to Shazam in 2009, and it was the first app that allowed users to search for a song then instantly launch its Pandora station as well as returning lyrics, YouTube videos, downloadable ringtones, similar artists, geo-taggable search location, share buttons and a link to iTunes.
Today, the startup has announced that it has passed 80 million users as it rolls out a new design alongside a slew of new features. Version 5.0 of the app features an overhauled homescreen, and features a new SoundHound Player with LiveLyrics and instant links to artist information.
The update goes live today for its iOS and Android apps, and the first thing that will strike you is the gorgeous design and layout, including album art and high-resolution photos of artists.
Oh, and SoundHound kicks off this new release with a free song stream, giving users one-tap access to hear a new single from any artist. Fresh content appears regularly inside the carousel, letting fans buy, share and explore new music.
Hitting 80m users is an impressive feat for the San Jose-based music company, though it’s some 100m less than Shazam, so there’s still room for a lot of growth. SoundHound is a great app though, and if you haven’t checked it out before, now’s a good a time as any.
Image Credit: Fey Ilyas | Flickr
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