Apps are becoming more and more important and widely used as more and more people make the most of their smartphones and mobile devices, and one app that’s definitely seen massive success in recent years is Shazam.
The idea of Shazam is to “listen” to a song and identify it to the user. Originally developed in the year 2000, it started off as a text message service which cost 50p a time. Now it’s an efficient, clean and simple app which almost instantly identifies track names and artists, then gives users the option to download the song. The app has ended the frustration of hearing a great new song in a shop, a pub or on a TV advert and then being unable to identify what it is so you can listen to it later. Now, 100 million people use the mobile app every month, and at the end of 2014 people throughout the world had “Shazamed” over 15 billion times.
Shazam is now one of only six UK technology startups with a value of $1 billion or more, and the app itself is only a part of the whole empire. Shazam are now looking at branching out into other directions, for example giving shoppers discounts and other offers if they Shazam a certain song in a retail business, and linking the app with advertisements, allowing viewers to instantly learn more about a company if they see an advert that captures their attention.
Shazam remains one of the world’s most popular music apps and by expanding into other areas such as advertising, they look set to evolve in even more new and exciting ways in the future. The success of Shazam highlights just how popular apps can become, and demonstrates how they can benefit a business. When you have a great app, you can really capture people’s imaginations and allow them to engage with your company on an interactive level, increasing your potential for success.