Dive Brief:

• Like other apps that have traditionally gone light in terms of subjecting users to advertisement, Shazam is now looking for ways to increase that revenue stream.
• According to Ad Age, the two new offerings Shazam has for marketers include data insights on music artists that fit with their brands, and also allowing them to use that data to buy branded content where they can “own” the Shazam screen for those artists or even specific songs.
• Greg Glenday, chief revenue officer, Shazam, told Ad Age part of the offering is a customizable dashboard that allows for real-time collection of global data around artists, genres, geographies and cultural moments.

Dive Insight:

Glenday said about the new marketing offerings, "Advertising had always been secondary, but now we are putting it front and center. We are taking advertising seriously by adding stock and people. We sold ourselves short with the advertising industry by just selling banner ads and being transactional."

According to Glenday, ad revenue is now Shazam’s main source of revenue, unlike years past where those dollars came from downloads, carrier partnerships and affiliates. He added that the app expects ad revenue to continue to be the fastest growing segment of its business.

Another ad offering Shazam is rolling out will give marketers a way to tag TV ads to add a second screen experience to the spot for viewers, as well as visual scanning for print, in-store and outdoor ads.

For social media platforms and apps that meet a specific marketplace, a key source of value is the unique data it can bring to advertisers; it’s not surprising that Shazam would tap into the insights it gains on how its users interact with music artists and songs.

Especially as the digital music space gets more crowded and more innovative, regardless of the type of service they offer, involved players will have to find fresh ways to lure brands to their platforms.