what is shazam?
Knowledge… musical intelligence… the inside track… or mobile sorcery?
How often do you hear a tune on the radio, in a store, a club or bar, or even something that's being used as the backing track on a new TV ad and it gets you… you want to find out what it's called and who it's by?
Shazam's world leading music recognition technology puts this power in your hands… use your mobile to recognise the stuff you don't, and then go on to shazam.com to manage your discoveries, explore the music universe, publish your own reviews, and find out about other members.
In the US, the number to dial to enable you to iD is dependent on which cell phone provider you use.
Cingular MusicID. Dial #43 to use the service
Alternately if you have a compatible java phone you can download the MusicID application. To do this;-
Go to Media Mall from the phones menu, select Shop Applications
Select Entertainment then Music
Download and Start ID'ing Songs
Verizon Song Identity (published by Rocket Mobile, Inc).
Virgin Mobile Dial *43
Go to the Main Menu of your Virgin Mobile phone and select VirginXL.
Choose Daily Dose.
From the Daily Dose menu select Song ID.
Click OK and your phone will begin to make a call.
Sign in or Register to check, manage and buy stuff connected to the tracks and artists you've iD'd, including full-track downloads of the songs themselves, CDs, DVDs and even gig tickets.
You can also use Shazam.com to search for other tracks, artists and albums; check the latest iD Charts from around the world; create your own profile page; check out what other members of the Shazam Community have been iDing; send messages to other members you're interested in; use Music Explorer, Shazam's unique music recommendation application, to discover new tracks, artists and albums based on the real iDing activity of over 6 million Shazam users, some of whom have similar tastes to you!
Don't forget, you can now iD tracks online by clicking the Shazam button on any track page. Any song you Shazam shows on your iD list in My Music.
Important
- Shazam music recognition technology doesn't work on live music, classical music, or if you sing or hum the tune!
- If Shazam can't recognise the track you've iD'd you don't get charged for the text message you receive, just the initial 20 second call.
How Does It Work?
A bit of mystery always seems to make things even more appealing…
But for the technology fans, here's a the science bit:
Back in 2001 our Chief Scientific Officer, Avery Wang, created an algorithm which is capable of recognising patterns in music that are unique to every song. So, when you call Shazam, we map the 20-second clip that you play to your phone to over 3.5 million songs in our database to find an exact match using the algorithm. Simple.
Where Can I Use Shazam
Shazam works in the UK across all the mobile networks (02, Orange, Vodafone, T-Mobile, Virgin and 3).
Outside of the UK, we have many partners who run their own music recognition services, powered by Shazam. For the full list of countries click here.
The only thing Shazam won't work on is live music and classical music.
How Much Does It Cost?
Charges vary by cell phone provider. Please check your provider for details.
How Can I See My List of iDs?
You can see a list of your iDs either on Shazam WAP portal (web on your mobile) or online at www.shazam.com
When we send you a successful match, the SMS will also include a link to the track page on the WAP site. From there you can click on My iDs to see a list of everything you've iD'd.
To see your iDs on the web, you need to complete a very simple registration process at www.shazam.com. You can then go to My Music where you can write reviews and buy any of the music you have iD'd.
What is a Shazam?
As well as using your mobile to tag music, you can also bookmark tracks you find across the website by Shazaming them.
Anything you Shazam will be added you your iD List on My Music. And it's free, so no need to hold back! The more you iD, (on your mobile or on the website) the more we are able to recommend music that you will like. Just look for the Shazam button on every track page.
What's A iD Chart?
iD Charts are an amalgamation of all the iDing that's happening round the world, wherever the Shazam service is available. The higher the number of times a track has been iD'd, the higher up the charts it will come. Because people often iD to find out the name of music they've never heard before, the iD Chart is also a good way to find out what music is up-and-coming. Each country where Shazam is live has it's own iD chart. Click here to go to the US iD Chart.
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