Apple’s Shazam Gets Another Big Upgrade with New Concert + Tour Info | How It Works

Shazam concert discovery Credit: Apple
Text Size
- +

Toggle Dark Mode

When Apple acquired Shazam four years ago, many feared that it would mark the end of the music recognition service, with Apple simply assimilating Shazam’s team and technology into the core iOS experience. Fortunately, however, Apple has wholeheartedly embraced Shazam as a standalone app and continues to extend it with new features.

This included everything from a new offline mode to a significant redesign and tighter Apple Music integration. In late 2020, Apple even launched a web app.

After more than four years, Shazam still seems to be running mainly as an independent entity. Even Shazam’s App Store page still lists the developer as “Shazam Entertainment Ltd.” rather than Apple, atypical for an Apple-acquired developer. For instance, Beddit, which Apple acquired around the same time, has an app that lists its developer as “Apple.”

Nevertheless, with Apple’s backing, Shazam continues to expand in new ways. This week, it’s rolling out several new features to help music fans get additional information about concerts and other “upcoming live music shows.”

The timing isn’t a coincidence, either. As we emerge from nearly two years of rolling lockdowns and self-isolation, many music fans are eager to get back out and experience live performances again, and Apple knows this.

Shazam has a long history of innovation in music discovery and connecting artists and fans. With the reemergence of live music, we’re excited to give Shazam users access to concerts and bring even more discoverability to artists.Oliver Schusser, Apple VP for Apple Music and Beats

How Shazam Live Concerts Works

The secret sauce behind Shazam’s new live concerts feature comes from a partnership with Bandsintown, a platform like Eventbrite designed expressly for discovering live music events.

There’s nothing special you’ll need to do to make this work, either. Simply search for a song like you usually would — either by having Shazam listen to it or looking it up manually — and you’ll see relevant concert information, tickets, and tour dates for any upcoming shows near your location.

You can also pull up these details on specific artists by opening a new Shazam Artist page now available on the platform, which will list all the dates, times, and locations of upcoming performances and shortcuts to add them to your calendar or buy tickets.

Since this information is all culled from Bandsintown, you could get the same information from that app, but this offers a pleasant integrated experience for Shazam users.

Apple and Shazam are also hoping that this will increase exposure for artists. After all, many folks who use Shazam have never even heard of Bandsintown. They don’t need to know or care what’s providing the information behind Shazam’s new concerts discovery feature.

Make no mistake, though — Bandsintown isn’t a minor player in the industry. It serves over 68 million concertgoers, contains 2.5 million event dates, boasts a unique database of over 24,000 venues. So, there’s a good chance your favorite artists are already on Bandsintown, but those who aren’t will now have an extra incentive to get on board to make their tour dates available to Shazam users.

It’s also interesting that Apple has chosen to roll this into Shazam rather than using it to enhance its core Apple Music app. That may still be coming, of course — perhaps Apple will have something more to say at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June — but for now, it’s another good reason for iPhone music fans to hang onto the standalone Shazam app.

Sponsored
Social Sharing