First making its name as the go-to app for music recognition software, Shazam has expanded into other media content like TV commercials, movie trailers, and radio ads in the past. This week, however, the company is officially announcing its push into brand-specific advertisement with a new initiative called "Shazam for Brands" (via AdAge).

Shazam for Brands
Using data accumulated from how users interact with the app, and a company's integrated brand advertisement, Shazam will attempt to pick out which artists and musical genre each brand should use to attract the widest swath of their particular audience. Before the official launch of Shazam for Brands, some of Shazam's past partners have included Marvel Studios, Nike and Clinique. Those partners provided fans with experiences like Shazamable movie posters and interactive music videos.

"Advertising had always been secondary, but now we are putting it front and center," said Greg Glenday, chief revenue officer at Shazam. "We are taking advertising seriously by adding stock and people. We sold ourselves short with the advertising industry by just selling banner ads and being transactional."

With such data, a brand will be able to purchase the landing page of a specific Shazam, called "clickable listening screens," so that their products can be displayed in conjunction with the a particular artist's song. Glenday said the new ad-push for the company won't bring any noticeable changes on the user side of things, and that all of Shazam's fans "will still receive the results they want without interruption."

Shazam for Brands will also allow the company's partners to incorporate Shazam's technology -- using the same, traditional Shazam app -- into their own marketing materials. For example, earlier in the month Coca-Cola introduced a Shazamable bottle design that prompted users to film a video of themselves lip-syncing to one of a handful of songs displayed on the drink's label.

Furthermore, the company is looking to get into the live-event business, in a festival centered around up-and-coming artists set to open later in the year. Shazam intends to use beacon technology to create an event where each performer will be able to be discovered by the app. Following today's launch, the company hasn't said who its next major advertising and brand partner will be, but it has created a new Shazam for Brands Twitter account so users can follow its progress on the social network.

Shazam is available on the App Store for free [Direct Link]. Users can also download Shazam Encore for $6.99 [Direct Link], negating all of the company's attempted advertisements.

Tag: Shazam

Top Rated Comments

Porco Avatar
97 months ago
"It all starts here."

No. 'It all ends here' for you on any of my devices Shazam. :p
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Crusoe Avatar
97 months ago
Shazam was a very handy tool for identifying music.

Then it was a handy tool with other tabs telling you what other people were looking for.

Then it was a handy tool with half a screen for identifying music and the rest all about sharing and recommendations.

I mostly understand that they're trying to monetise something that otherwise had a limited possibility of generating income, but I hate the app now. Five tabs, of which half of one is what I'm interested in, and statements like the above don't give me hope it'll get any better.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ButteryScrollin Avatar
97 months ago
Sounds horrific
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BuffaloTF Avatar
97 months ago
It has become very difficult to shazam a song because so many buttons. Is there a viable alternative as good as Shazam ?
SoundHound... been using it for years. You can even hum or sing the words of a song you've heard but couldn't search for fast enough.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
2457282 Avatar
97 months ago
I fail to see how which songs someone "Shazams" has any bearing on an advertiser trying to target a certain market. I've used it to ID so many different random songs—even ones I didn't like but was just curious because I couldn't remember who made it. I'd likely never actually listen to a playlist of the songs I've searched for because it's a bunch of completely random crap. I just can't see how this is useful? Can someone explain??
just as bad as the whole big data personlized and curated ads / news crap. just because i looked at something doesnt mean its what i actually like. its in fact quite dangerous cuz you miss out on general content or things u may like but didnt actively look for.

Facebooks horrible "Top News" Feed comes to mind
I actually work in the Business Intelligence/Data Warehousing/Big Data space. At an individual basis it can be difficult to look at limited and potentially random data points, as you both describe, and make any reasonable extrapolations or assumptions. However, over large amounts of data trends do show up that can be useful. Even some basic stuff that feels hit or miss can move the hit rate on ads by a few percentage points and that equals real money. As they get more data and do more sophisticated analysis this could allow for better target ads that yield higher hit rates and higher revenues. As someone who has made a career and money on this, I can assure you that this stuff works overall even if it misses at an individual level.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PowerBook-G5 Avatar
97 months ago
Uninstalling now.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17 and iPhones Feature

iOS 17: 10 New Features That Just Launched

Sunday September 17, 2023 12:35 pm PDT by
In June, Apple announced iOS 17 with a wide range of new features and changes for the iPhone. Following over three months of beta testing, the free software update will be released this Monday, September 18 for the iPhone XS and newer. Below, we have recapped 10 key features coming to the iPhone with iOS 17, with additional features coming later this year. The update should be released to...
iPhone 15 Pro Lineup Feature

iPhone 15 Models Feature New Setting to Strictly Prevent Charging Beyond 80%

Tuesday September 19, 2023 2:04 pm PDT by
All of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models feature a new battery health setting that prevents the devices from charging beyond 80% at all times when enabled, as confirmed by The Verge's Allison Johnson during a Q&A session today. The new setting is separate from the pre-existing Optimized Battery Charging feature on iPhones, which intelligently delays charging past 80% until a more...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 17 With StandBy, Live Voicemail, Improved Autocorrect, FaceTime Video Messages and Tons More

Monday September 18, 2023 10:05 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, the latest operating system updates that are designed for the iPhone and iPad. As with all of Apple's software updates, iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 are available for free. iOS 17 is compatible with the iPhone XR/iPhone XS and later, while iPadOS 17 runs on the iPad mini 5 and later, the iPad 6 and later, iPad Air 3 and later, the second-generation 12.9-inch...
flighty standby

Best Apps With New iOS 17 and watchOS 10 Features

Monday September 18, 2023 3:02 pm PDT by
With the release of a new operating system, there are multiple features and design elements for developers to adopt. Now that iOS 17 is out, many major apps are getting interesting updates today, which we've rounded up below. watchOS 10 also has a new design language, so there are a range of Apple Watch updates to check out too. Flighty (Free, Premium Subscription) Popular flight tracking...