Shazam recently announced that it has more than 100 million monthly active users, with 34 percent growth in that metric since July 2013. The music identification app has also been downloaded more than half a billion times. VentureBeat reported that Shazam’s tagging feature drives 400,000 digital download sales daily. The company has partnerships with those music stores, including iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play, so it receives a cut of the sales.
At this point, the most prominent distinguishing factor between Shazam and its main rival, SoundHound, is how aggressively this platform has pursued deals outside of music. A growing number of television commercials are using Shazam to give extra info to prospective buyers, and it will also be integrated into Apple’s iOS 8. And Shazam isn’t the only music service looking beyond the industry borders: Spotify has inked deals with Viacom and Sprint, and Rhapsody is working with T-Mobile.
The outward-looking philosophy appears to bode well for Shazam’s future financial success. Forbes interviewed CEO Rich Riley about Shazam’s current financial status, and he was optimistic about the company’s plans for an eventual IPO. “I’m confident that Shazam will be able to IPO if it wants to in the next few years because of the strong brand, user base and business model,” he said. “But if it made more sense to be acquired, that could certainly be a choice as well.”