ShazamA Musical Innovation

By Philip Heilman

About the Application

Shazam is a smartphone application that attempts to recognize and identify a particular music track from a 10 second clip.

It “tags” or bookmarks particular tracks from a database that has over 2 million songs, and no genre preferences.

There are several versions of the application, as well as competing applications that offer similar features.

The Technology: How it works

An algorithm was created with these elements:

1. Track the correct song in a timely manner

2. Deal with ambient background noise

3. Decrease the chances of a network dropout

The algorithm measures frequency and time throughout a song, and maps out the varied tones, which create audio “fingerprints” for a database. How Shazam Works

Varied Versions: Free Shazam

The song tracking

Lyrics

YouTube videos

Artist and tour information

Banner advertisements throughout the application

Varied Versions: Encore version

All previous features of free version

But it costs money ($4.99/year or $6.99/lifetime)

Banner ads eliminated

Links to spotify and Pandora for either streaming or creation a radio station based on that particular track

Varied Versions: (Shazam) Red

All previous features of free version

Banner adds eliminated

The normal blue background is now red

Links to spotify and Pandora for either streaming or creation a radio station based on that particular track

Costs $6.99, but 20% of the proceeds go to HIV and Aids programs in Africa

Competitors

The main competitor of Shazam is SoundHound, who shares the same technology.

Nancy Messieh wrote an article that compares the two applications: Shazam vs. SoundHound

SoundHound Comparison- Pros

Shazam Free

Shazam Encore

SoundHound Free

SoundHound Infinity

Pros -No Cost-Song tracking-Lyrics-Artist Information-Identifies remix’s accurately

-Song tracking-Lyrics-Artist information-Links to Pandora and spotify-No Advertisements-Identifies remixes accurately

-No Cost-Song tracking-Lyrics-Artist information-Able to sing or hum song-Link to Pandora

-Song tracking-Lyrics-Artist information-Able to sing or hum-Link to Pandora-Song recommendations

SoundHound Comparison- Cons

Shazam Free Shazam Encore

SoundHound Free

SoundHound Infinity

Cons

-Advertisements-Not able to hum or sing song

-Costs money($4.99 or $6.99)-Not able to sing or hum song

-Advertisements-Not able to accurately identify remix’s

-Costs $6.99-Not able to accurately identify remix’s

Future Predictions

The popularity of music identifying applications has been increasing, as several million people have downloaded some version of this technology.

The developers will most likely add features such as direct links to the artists webpage or ringtone options.

Shazam has advertisements on television, which will lead to more success for their company.

References

Jacobs, Bryan. "Gizmodo." Gizmodo. (2010): n. page. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://gizmodo.com/5647458/how-shazam-works-to-identify-nearly-every-song-you-throw-at-it>.

Messieh, Nancy. "Shazam vs. SoundHound: Looking For The Perfect Song Identifier." Make Use Of. N.p., 8 2011. Web. 12 Nov 2012. <http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/shazam-soundhound-perfect-song-identifier/>.