Shazam expands to Mac computers
On its quest to get its technology on as many of your devices as possible, Shazam has released a new version of its audio-identification service built for Apple computers.
Shazam for Mac, available now on the Web and the Apple App Store, marks the company’s first venture outside the world of mobile. It is designed to run in the background without disturbing users as they work on their desktops and laptops, but it is also ready to spring to action and identify a song, commercial, TV show or movie as soon as it detects any sound.
The iPhone and iPad versions of Shazam come with an always-on feature that can be turned on, but for the most part, Shazam’s 500 million registered users only turn the app on after they hear audio that they want to identify. With the desktop version, Shazam hopes users will leave the software on permanently so that “it gives you the answer to your question before you even ask it,” Shazam Chief Product Officer Daniel Danker told The Times.
After installing the software, Shazam for Mac tries to identify any audio it hears in its physical proximity, like a song at a cafe or an ad from a nearby TV. It also recognizes audio that comes from your machine, like a TV show on Netflix or a tune on Spotify. If Shazam is able to identify the audio, it shoots a notification that flashes at the top right corner of the screen. Clicking the alert takes the user to Shazam’s website, where they can find more information about the audio it tagged.
In the case of music, Shazam.com will show users the lyrics to the songs it has tagged, YouTube videos that are associated with it and other songs that are on the same album. But more importantly, the page contains shortcuts to iTunes, Google Play and Amazon so users can buy the song, a cut of which will go back to Shazam.
“We make money by selling music,” Danker said, explaining that Shazam for Mac is part of the company’s larger plan to be more involved in users’ lives. Earlier this month, Shazam began hosting song lyrics on its website, hoping that overtime Shazam.com will rise to the top of Google song lyric search results. And later this year when Apple launches iOS 8 for the iPhone and iPad, Shazam will be built directly into the software. Whenever Apple users ask Siri what song is playing, the results will come from the London company. By being in more places than just mobile apps, Shazam can drive more song sales.
The company’s second major form of revenue comes from marketers, which pay to use Shazam’s logo on their ads. This lets consumers know they can Shazam a commercial to get more information about a product. Having Shazam on Mac computers gives customers more ways to identify audio and more reason for marketers to pay up.
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