Music-tagging service Shazam is branching out into the realm of social networking. In Shazam 4.0, for iPhone and iPod Touch, users can connect to other friends utilizing the service’s new “Friends” tab and Facebook Connect. Shazam’s Friends addition hasn’t added any major functionality to the app, but it does provide a new layer to the app — and might change how users utilize the service.
To equip Shazam Friends, you’ll first need to authorize the service to connect with your Facebook account. After allowing this, I was also prompted to sync my phone with a Shazam account. I was slightly annoyed by this extra step, but if you’re a lucky user who has unlimited tagging access, setting this up will allow you to retain unlimited rights should you upgrade your device in the future. If you have Facebook friends using Shazam, you’ll see whatever songs they’re tagging appear in the Friends feed. From here, you’ll be able to access all of Shazam’s typical features, such as song lyrics, tour info, YouTube videos and song previews. Like songs you tag, you’ll be able to purchase these tracks through iTunes, too.
I’m curious to see how the Friends feature impacts Shazam usage — will people stop tagging songs that could cause embarrassment if their friends are privy to their listening habits? Or will users start tagging more often, or songs they already know, in order to quickly share music picks with their friends. In addition to the built-in Friends feature, you can also post tracks to Twitter or your Facebook news feed directly.
Shazam’s restrictions on tagging (five per month for the free app) probably will limit the Friends experience for free users, so audiophiles might want to consider an upgrade.
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