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One of the most popular music-related apps in the App Store has reached a milestone that few others can’t claim. Shazam, the song identifier, just surpassed a quarter of a billion users worldwide. Now that the company has established itself as a household name, the services has been extended to include all television shows, anytime within the U.S.
Shazam is a wonder of technology. If you hear a song, but don’t know the name of it, or can’t remember which band is playing it, hold your device near the music with the app open and Shazam will tell you the song title, the artist, and a bunch of other useful bits of information, including where to buy the album.
The television portion of the service allows users to find out more information about a show they are watching. Get cast names, soundtrack details, trivia and more. The T.V. feature was added back in April, but was very limited in its offering.
With the recent expansion of the television service, users can now use Shazam to access the second-screen info for any television show in the U.S. on any channel, anytime of day.
There is no update to download, the expansion of services is already available today. Shazam now offers:
Featured music – Shazam has leveraged its rich music history and its 20+ million track database to identify the music featured in whatever people are watching
Cast information – the app will list the cast featured in the program, guest stars, as well as other shows they’ve been in
Trivia – fans can learn more about their favorite program and even read about the occasional goofs with the trivia feature in the app
Celebrity buzz – gives fans all the latest gossip about the show and the stars in it
Social sharing – live Twitter feeds as well as commenting in the app makes it fun to talk with your friends about what you’re watching
More information – convenient links to show-related information at IMDB, Wikipedia, and the official site for the show.
“According to industry studies, 86{813a954d5e225a1509f22204ece89c855080ce25555f20805f61bed63cbfde3b} of smartphone owners use their mobile device while watching TV and, with our expansion into television, we’ve seen a surge of activity due to recent Shazam-enabled events such as the NBC Olympic broadcast, where more than one million people tagged the closing ceremony, as well as the US Open tennis grand slam event on CBS earlier this month,” said Shazam CEO Andrew Fisher. “We think that broadening our television service and offering more comprehensive social features will continue to drive activity and engagement.”
The app also features a deeper integration with Facebook for a more enhanced social experience. Users will be able to see what their friends are tagging and make comments, as well as timeline tag compatibility. The company plans to roll out even more social media integration in the near future.
Shazam is a free app, available for the iPhone or iPad. If you already have Shazam, you should be able to start using it as a second screen starting right now.
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