Continuing to develop its pioneering mobile music recognition technology
Illustrating the strength and loyalty of UK customer base
Confirming that music and mobile are a match made in heaven
Shazam Entertainment, the pioneering audio technology company, is building on the phenomenal success of its UK branded consumer service, as caller numbers reach the one million mark.
In the UK alone, consumers have now 'tagged' over 4 million tracks, with a further option to send Songmails and download Ringtones, and thanks to a recently announced partnership with Mean Fiddler, Britain's largest live music organiser, users will soon be able to download the full chosen track from the Mean Fiddler website in the world's first 'Tag to Download' service.
Shazam's technology allows music fans to use their mobile phone to identify a track, simply by pointing it at the music source and dialling a short code (e.g. 2580 in the UK). The users then receive an SMS 'tag' within seconds, giving details of title and artist. The service is supported by four of the UK's major mobile networks and is recognised as a valuable promotional tool within the music industry.
Shazam launched its 'Songmail' service back in August 2002, allowing users to send a 30-second licensed music clip to their friends, together with a 15 second personal greeting - making it the first company in the world to offer this kind of service to music-loving consumers. The company can also use the application on a wider scale as a promotion tool - this is known as 'Mass Songmail', which has been used by Warner and Ministry of Sound to promote new singles in the UK.
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In fact, Shazam's knowledge in developing services that maximise revenues through mobile has led to partnerships with a variety of well known brands. The company worked with Universal late last year to launch a world's first in the promotion and distribution of music, targeting Sting fans directly via their mobile phones, with Warner to promote the release of Holly Valance's single 'State Of Mind', and more recently with Mean Fiddler, Britain's largest live music organiser to launch the world's first 'Tag to Download' service. Shazam also provides valuable information by utilising industry and consumer users on pre-release music to provide a weekly mini chart, highlighting the top ten tagged tracks.
"Reaching 1 million callers highlights the strength and loyalty of our UK customer base, which is repeatedly turning to Shazam and adopting the service as part of their mobile life", said Jerry Roest, CEO of Shazam Entertainment. "The Shazam-branded service in the UK, which was launched just over two years ago, generates significant revenues from the music products that our customers buy from us having "tagged" the music playing. This model has driven a very successful expansion on an international basis and we will continue to push the value of our music recognition service to all mobile operators."
Shazam also partners with media owners and mobile operators to launch music recognition services under their own brand and is already live in thirteen different countries, including the US and Japan. This extends brand penetration and encourages increased loyalty, while driving an immediate incremental revenue stream •
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