Shazam’s iPhone app is getting an overhaul, starting with a release that puts a larger focus on TV results, music videos and lyrics, the company is announcing today. The update is the first of what Shazam describes as “a larger refresh of the app,” which is expected to roll out over the month ahead.
In the new version arriving today, the app, which now reaches 150 million iPhone users, will see a new tag result experience – tagging, meaning here the process of identifying a piece of audio and matching it to its source. The idea with the refreshed design and user interface is to encourage users to take additional steps after that identification has taken place. That’s arguably been one of Shazam’s weaker spots to date, as the app has struggled to break free of its more utilitarian aspects involving music identification, to become more of a social network or music discovery service of its own.
Now the company is making over what happens after the music (or TV show) is found with a new user interface that more heavily emphasizes the tools allowing users to preview the track on streaming services like Rdio and Spotify, watch the lyrics roll by in real-time, share the music on social networks, or purchase the track from iTunes. The app will also point users directly to music videos, when relevant, and recommendations of other songs to check out.
Most notably, to end users, is the updated look-and-feel, which presents things in more of a card-style interface reminiscent of something like Google Now. However, the features Shazam is highlighting with the release are not new in and of themselves – they’re only being revamped and rearranged.
The updated app will arrive on iTunes, with the Android version to follow in a few weeks.
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[Note: as of the time of writing the updated app had not hit iTunes, but it should arrive shortly.]
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