Shazam
Shazam is an application that listens and tells. Shazam listens to a piece of music and then tells you what it is and Shazam then keeps a record of the song. This is called tagging in the Shazam language and it gives you a history of your favourite songs. You can then use the Twitter button to send a Tweet to your friends to let them know what you are listening to. There is a link that lets you buy the piece of music and sometimes links to other content such as clips on MySpace or YouTube.
The ad appears at the top of screen and the connections to Twitter and iTunes at the bottom.
WHO WOULD USE IT?
This is an application for people who
like music. While you don’t have to be serious about music to use Shazam, most Shazam users are serious tagging about 10 songs a month.
The ring around the central logo shows the progress while Shazam `listens'.
WALK THROUGH
Shazam is not the same on all devices. To download and install Shazam on the iPhone use the iTunes store or for Android phones you can find it at Android Market while Nokia uses can access it at the Ovi store. There are options for other phones including using Windows Marketplace for Mobile. For a full run down, visit
http://www.shazam.com/music/web/pages/getshazam.html.
On some phones, such as the iPhone, Shazam is free with advertising at the top of the screen. On some phones, you can get the base version for free but will need to pay a small fee for the full version.
Sometimes Shazam can't recognise the tune.
Features
Tagging includes your location.
When you tag a song you get details of the album it is from and the record label.
Includes links that enable you to buy the song.
Tweet straight from Shazam.
Publisher's site
http://www.shazam.com
Pros
Shazam is quick and covers a wide range of music.
Cons
There are gaps in the Shazam coverage. Very new bands or bands with only a local following don’t make it into the Shazam library and so won’t be identified.
Shazam doesn’t work with live music.
Verdict
This is great tool for finding out about new stuff and for keeping track of music that you like.