You might want to be nicer to Shazam, since it’s now valued at $1 billion

By Williams Pelegrin January 22, 2015

Shazam App Phone — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Shazam debuted back in the dark times of 2002 to help people figure of what song was playing, simply by holding your phone close to the source. As soon as the song was recognized, you would get a text message with the name of the song. Since then, Shazam has come a long way, with the Wall Street Journal reporting the company’s value now stands at $1 billion.

Shazam was rather successful in its latest round of funding, raking in $30 million. This works out to about a 3 percent stake in the company, which is where the $1 billion figure comes from. Consider this one statistic: In 2014, 100 million people used Shazam every month. That’s an increase from the 70 million in 2013. All of a sudden, Shazam’s success isn’t that surprising.

Even so, the latest public information shows Shazam actually lost money in the six months ending on December 31, 2013. Shazam lost $8.8 million on revenue of $25.6 million. However, Shazam is “intentionally not profitable” due to its constant reinvestments into new technology.

Shazam has grown up quite a bit since 2002. The music recognition service earns its keep from music downloads made through iTunes and other music services it sends users to, such as Rdio and Spotify. Shazam is also spreading its wings a bit, delving into the world of advertising. It will show promotional offers to those who walk into Office Depot or Office Max in the United States. Shazam might even reach a point where it will give more information to those who venture to the supermarket or watch a movie.

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Williams Pelegrin

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…

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