Shazam launches premium Shazam Encore iPhone app
Shazam has revealed the next stage in its plans for mobile app world domination, launching a new iPhone app called Shazam Encore. It's essentially a premium version of the company's existing iPhone app, offering quicker tagging …
Context & Ripple Effects
Shazam's move from novelty to business has been quick: the British firm came out of the shadows in 2008, rode its status as one of the iPhone's most popular apps and its featured role in Apple's own commercials, then closed a Kleiner Perkins iFund investment in October 2009. Encore is the first visible product of that money: a paid tier layered on top of a free app whose core tagging function stays free.
First-order effects
- iPhone users are now segmented: casual taggers stay on the free app while heavy users pay for Shazam Encore and its quicker tagging, giving Shazam its first direct revenue line from the App Store rather than from being a marketing showcase.
Second-order effects
- The free-versus-paid split forces rival music-recognition apps to pick a lane — match Shazam's freemium structure or undercut it by keeping everything free to chase share — and pushes Shazam to keep improving the free tier enough to upsell without cannibalizing it.
Third-order effects
- If the Encore pricing holds, music recognition becomes a platform play rather than a utility: whoever owns the tag data and the paying user base can steer listeners toward purchases and partnerships, an outcome Kleiner Perkins's iFund was explicitly underwriting when it backed the company.
The trend: Early iPhone hits like Shazam are converting App Store fame into freemium subscription businesses, with venture money accelerating the shift from free showcase apps to paid tiers.