Shazam, the music recognition company, has signed a deal with Universal Music to allow users to send each other 30-second clips of pop songs over their mobile telephones.
The deal, which gives Shazam access to songs on the Polydor, Island and Mercury labels, is another step in the music industry's endorsement of mobiles as a distribution medium.
It follows a deal between Shazam and Warner Music and will allow Shazam to continue diversifying its core service of enabling people to use their mobiles to identify the artists and titles of pop songs when they hear them being played.
Jerry Roest, Shazam's chief executive, said: "It's a new revenue stream for the record labels and music publishers."
Rob Wells, new media director at Universal Music UK, said: "This link-up is indicative of our intention to explore all new channels, both from a marketing and increased reach perspective but more importantly from a commercial perspective." Shazam's core service was launched last August, with a
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share of its revenues going to the UK's four main mobile phone operators.
It completed its second round of funding in May, raising €6m (£4.1m) from IDG Ventures Europe and Lynx Capital Ventures.
Other investors include Simon Murdoch, former head of Amazon.com Europe. The company is in talks with the remaining big music labels to gain access to their catalogues. It also offers ringtones and plans to sell concert tickets on mobiles.
The service has been rolled out in Germany and will soon be extended to Italy and China.
Mr Roest said he expected the company to break even next year. The new service allows consumers to tag a tune and send other people a 30-second clip using text message technology. The core song identification service allows users to point their mobiles in the direction of music they hear - for example in a club or on the radio - and then learn the name of the song and the artist via a text message •
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