It happens to all popular-music fans and almost always causes a twinge of frustration: You are in a club, or maybe riding in a car or sitting in a movie theater, and you hear a tune that you like but cannot identify. Not to worry, help is just a phone call away.
UK-based Shazam has created a real-time song-identification service that works anywhere using any mobile phone. When users are listening to a song they want to "tag," they simply dial 2580 (the vertical line down the center of the keypad) on their phone and hold it near the source of the music for 30 seconds.
Within minutes, Shazam's patented audio-pattern recognition technology identifies the tune and delivers the title and the artist's name via text message.
Extensive Catalog
According to company marketing executive Mekhala Chatterjee, Shazam's database comprises some 1.6 million tracks -- excluding classical music -- that can be accessed through any of the four leading British wireless operators. The service is not yet available outside the United Kingdom, but the company is in talks with carriers in the United States, Europe and Asia, she said.
The cost is 75 cents per call, and Shazam has logged about 100,000 requests since launching the service in August. "Young people love their music, and nearly all of them carry mobile phones, so we have given them a way to identify new music anytime, anywhere," Chatterjee told NewsFactor.
Create a Playlist
Besides getting the name of the tune and the performer, Shazam customers can create a personal song list at the company Web site and send a 30-second clip to a friend, along with a short voice message.
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The current target market for Shazam is ages 18 to 25. As more music is added to the database, that could well broaden to the 15- to 34-year-old demographic, said Chatterjee.
Music applications are among the most popular with mobile phone users, the company said, citing studies by phone maker Nokia and others. With that in mind, Shazam is confident wireless carriers will recognize the tagging service as a moneymaker, especially as advanced networks are introduced around the world.
Digital Fingerprints
Chatterjee said the company plans to enable the purchase of music CDs, as well as downloading songs and music videos, using next-generation cell phones and other handheld devices.
The underlying technology is extremely clever, using software developed by researchers at Stanford University that creates digital fingerprints of songs based on pitch and tone, among other identifying characteristics. "The database is continuously updated, so that we have all of the latest music," Chatterjee noted.
Fad App?
While acknowledging that Shazam has come up with an innovative service, IDC wireless analyst Keith Waryas called it a novelty, or "fad app," that may have a short life. "It's cool, but my feeling is that the popularity will taper off and in the long term it will be tough to find people who will keep using it."
He agreed that music has the potential to be a killer app for the wireless industry and said Shazam could generate sporadic revenue for carriers that increasingly are targeting the youth market. "The real opportunity with music will be polyphonic ring tones and over-air downloads that will be available with third-generation networks," he added •
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