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Shazam integrates Spotify full-track streaming

January 13, 2011 — 10:28am ET | By Jason Ankeny

Mobile music discovery solutions provider Shazam will integrate digital streaming music service Spotify, offering iOS and Android device users in Europe direct access to full-track versions of songs they've tagged and identified. The Shazam solution pinpoints music from any source, regardless of ambient noise--after users hold their handset to the audio feed for a few seconds, the clip is run through the company's database of 10 million tracks to find an exact match. Shazam will include the new Play in Spotify feature in both its free and premium applications--users can now identify new music, hear the song in their entirety and add that track to their digital catalog.

Spotify's music streaming service now boasts over 10 million registered users across Europe--rumors continue to persist that a U.S. launch is imminent. Insiders say major American record labels are pressuring digital streaming music service Spotify to jettison its current free content approach in favor of a guaranteed revenue model, citing the impasse as the culprit behind Spotify's inability to expand into the North American market. While the majority of Spotify users in Western Europe tune in to a free, ad-supported version of the service, BusinessWeek reported in mid-June that the four majors--Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and EMI Music--want Spotify to follow the lead of rivals like Rhapsody and eMusic by introducing premium monthly subscriptions to U.S. consumers, enabling the music industry to share in resulting revenues.

Shazam topped the 100 million user benchmark in late 2010, adding 25 million new users in six months. The solution is now available to consumers in more than 200 countries and over 30 languages.

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