Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Mountain Jam, Burning Man, Governor’s Ball and Sasquatch. It’s the season of festival announcements, and lineups are being finalized and publicized left and right. Not to mention, SU’s very own Block Party is right around the corner. What’s one to do with so much music?

Tag it. That’s what users can do with the music they listen to with the Shazam application.

Shazam was created by Shazam Entertainment Ltd. This app is popular for music enthusiasts and curious listeners alike. If you don’t have it, it wouldn’t hurt to follow the trend in this case, because if you’re looking to widen your knowledge of music, this app will do just that.

Plus, Shazam allows you to avoid various awkward situations.

Say you’re walking through a store and hear a great song being played as you peruse through various assortments of pants. You don’t know what the song is, though, and you’re too nervous or shy to go to the cashier and see if they can figure out what it is.

All you have to do is push a button and the app will “listen” to the sound waves of the song. Then, it will show the artist and title of the song by the process of “tagging” the song.

Tagging only works for songs that are being played on the radio or from a music device, though. So, if your uncle is doing a rendition of “Free Bird,” the app will not pick up on that. And if the song’s volume is too low, or other songs are playing at the same time, the app won’t be able to recognize the song.

Not only can the app recognize songs, but for every song that is tagged, it is catalogued in the app, and you will have a list of songs to which you’ve already listened.

Shazam is a heavily interactive app, not just with music, but also with television shows and sports, as well. Push the button and the app will be able to pick up what you’re watching on television. For sports, you’ll be filled in on different stats about games and players.

So, the next time you hear that unknown song in a store, tag it with Shazam. Maybe it’ll be a band in the lineup for your next concert.

Published on March 31, 2013 at 10:44 pm

Contact Claire: cmdunder@syr.edu | @ClaireDunderman