Shazam reportedly raising $20M, valued now at $500M

Shazam, best known as a music-identification app, is reportedly closing a $20-million funding round with undisclosed investors. It would not be the first major investment for Shazam — indeed, it would be the smallest round to date. Shazam raised $32-million in 2011, and $40-million last year, according to CrunchBase. The reported $20-million of new money would raise the company’s funding to $92-million.

Perhaps the most important part of the news is a reported disclosed valuation of $500-million.

Shazam has expanded its services and its user base over the last few years. Consider these metrics:

• Over 400-million app downloads
• 88-million active users — more than Pandora
• Over one-million “Shazams” during Grammy night
• 700,000 Shazams during the Super Bowl (entirely during the halftime show, presumably)

Shazam works by pointing the app toward a music source (e.g. radio, TV, club sound system) and receiving information about the music (song title, album, artist). Shazam partners with Rdio for post-identification listening, and can also throw the user into Spotify or YouTube for listening, and iTunes for purchases. The company is developing partnerships with TV advertisers.