Shazam, the UK-headquartered company that started life as a mobile service for identifying music playing in the real world, announced that América Móvil, the largest telecommunications carrier in the Americas has invested $40 million for an overseas expansion to Latin America as part of its drive to reach one billion users.
The two companies will be working together to raise awareness and usage of Shazam in the region.
"We currently have 350 million users," Shazam Executive Chairman Andrew Fisher said. "Our next milestone is 500 million, but we have our hearts set on one billion people using our service."
Mr. Fisher said the deal with América Móvil, which is controlled by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, will mean the app is pre-installed on smartphones the company sells.
Although Shazam is well known for its music recognition service and accounts for nearly 10 percent of world-wide sales of digital content, the company has expanded into more general content recognition. Users in the U.S. can use the service to identify any T.V. show, and it has been featured heavily in T.V. advertising.
The British-based company will use the funds to accelerate the expansion into television, where its recognition software can tune into an advertisement's soundtrack then link viewers directly to the brand's website.
"Within 18 months we expect TV will significantly outperform the music side of the business and that's part of this investment," Fisher said.
Shazam has been used by more than 350 million people since its launch in 2002, although its current reach is better reflected in its 70 million monthly active users, who tag more than 10 million songs, shows and ads a day. Shazam is currently adding more than 2 million new users every week.
"The opportunity here is the chance to have a much bigger presence in Latin America. América Móvil is the largest wireless carrier in the region, so it's a great opportunity to fund the expansion and get preloaded on devices in that territory," added Fisher.
"Shazam is defining a new category of media engagement which combines the power of mobile with traditional broadcast media and advertising to create compelling value added experiences for consumers, content providers and brands." said Carlos Slim. "We are excited to bring this innovation to América Móvil subscribers as we continue to further differentiate our services as the market leader in Latin America."
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