Stick a camera in an Internet-connected smartphone and it leads to all sorts of visual discovery technologies. From full on Augmented Reality to less ambitious bar codes, with applications ranging from genuinely new content experiences to advertising and marketing opportunities. Enter a new partnership between Mobile Acuity, which develops mobile visual search technology, and ‘digital media delivery company’ 7digital.
Integrated into 7digital’s API, the Visual Music Discovery service will enable developers, record labels and service providers — all of whom 7digital serves as customers — to offer their end users the ability to discover music featured on CD covers, posters, billboards and “other visual advertising mediums” by capturing images with their mobile phones or other camera-equipped mobile devices, such as tablets.
A typical use-case is obvious: point your phone’s camera at a poster or magazine ad, snap a picture and get access to information about an artist or album with the option to preview and purchase a track download from a 7digital-powered download store, of which there are many.
7digital’s partners include RIM’s BlackBerry music download store, Spotify, Shazam, Last.fm, Winamp, Songbird and HMV, which has a 50% stake in 7digital.
While the 7digital API lets developers use and license the 7digital platform, giving access to over 12,000,000 tracks for paid-download, so that they can create new music websites, applications and devices or to integrate music into existing services.