Musicphone will utilize Shazam's award-winning technology to offer the first mobile music recognition service in the US - MusicID™
Service now available to AT&T Wireless subscribers
MusicID™ available to a potential audience of over 22 million mobile phone users
San Francisco, CA - Musicphone today announced the first launch of its music recognition service - MusicID™ - in the US with AT&T Wireless in partnership with Shazam Entertainment, the UK based pioneering audio technology company. This is the first time MusicID™ or any music recognition service will be made available to wireless consumers in North America .
AT&T Wireless subscribers can use the service to instantly identify almost any song they hear by simply dialing a short code (#43) from their handset. Once dialed, the service combs through an extensive catalogue and returns results to the handset in seconds via a text message.
Musicphone plans to immediately extend the MusiciD™ service to other US carriers this year and will eventually offer the integration of MusicID™ within other mobile music services such as ringtones, dedications and song downloads. "What's great about Music Recognition is that it introduces a 'search factor' to existing music services. A subscriber can now quickly find the ringtone or the download version of a particular song she likes by dialing 3 digits on her phone", says Birame Sock, CEO and founder of Musicphone. "By enabling this functionality, we have provided the carriers the means to consolidate all their music services."
Shazam's service has already attracted more than a million users across Europe, Asia and Oceania. In the UK alone, consumers have already 'tagged' around 3 million tracks using the '2580' dial code. "Shazam has rapidly built a loyal following of mobile subscribers who use the service on a regular basis, illustrating the power of music recognition
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and the associated services within the mobile environment," said Jerry Roest, CEO of Shazam Entertainment. "Our aggressive expansion plans have already delivered significant traction in markets as diverse as Germany, Italy, Finland, Poland, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, but penetrating the US has been a key objective for us."
Musicphone is already a pioneer in offering music services to the US carriers being first to launch MusicCall™, a Music Dedication service with AT&T Wireless, and since then launching with four other wireless operators. The company has also secured content licensing deals with 3 of the 5 major record labels. "This new partnership with Shazam adds tremendous value to our service offering and allows us to be the first to offer Music recognition in the US in an industry where being the first mover is key." comments Birame Sock.
About Musicphone
Musicphone is a privately held company based in San Francisco, CA. Founded in early 2002, Musicphone capitalizes on the evolving digital entertainment service delivery market. Its mission is to create technology solutions that maximize synergies between the entertainment world and the telecommunications world.
Musicphone develops services on top of its Entertainment Service Delivery Platform that enable content providers, wireless carriers, specialized content portals, and others, to offer innovative mobile entertainment services to their subscribers, using premium licensed content. Musicphone services allow wireless subscribers to access their favourite music service from their cell phone anywhere they may be.
MusicCall™, a music dedication service over the phone is currently available on AT&T Wireless' mMode, Verizon Wireless, Alltel and Midwest Wireless. The company has signed content licensing deals with Universal Music Group, BMG and Warner Music Group •
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