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"Shazam is already a verb. We want to expand the universe of
what you can Shazam," Chief Executive Rich Riley told Reuters at
the Mobile World Congress industry fair in Barcelona.
To fund the expansion the London-based company raised $30
million from several unidentified billionaires and financial
institutions in January, coming on top of $40 million raised
from Mexican telecoms billionaire Carlos Slim in 2013.
Riley said these additional funds would help the venture-capital
backed company add to its 250-strong staff and sign additional
partnerships with publishers and content companies.
"The famous blue button that our users love will remain on the
home screen but will be able to do much more," he said.
Shazam has evolved markedly since 1999 when it was founded,
gaining popularity with its ability to recognize a piece of
music with the click of a button on the phone. It now sells
songs that its users identify, having secured deals with all the
major streaming music services including Spotify and Deezer, and
has remained among the top 25 most downloaded apps for years.
Lately it has also become a port of call for advertisers who
want to find ways to instantly link up with their target
audiences.
The next phase of development will be to enable phone users to
Shazam actual objects, said Riley, such as a cereal packet in
the grocery store to get more nutritional information or a DVD
case at home to buy the movie soundtrack.
Riley also said that funding would give Shazam "lots of
flexibility" to determine whether its next money-raising
exercise would be on the public or private markets.
Although Shazam does not disclose its revenues or other
financials, it says the latest funding round valued it at over
$1 billion.
It also has the attributes of a listed company, Riley said, such
as a strong brand, scale and revenue, although the company is
not yet profitable since it is still seeking to grow.
"Our business model is real and developed, not to be determined
like so many web apps or start-ups," he said.
(Editing by Greg Mahlich)
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