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Spotify and Rdio subscribers can now listen to whole songs in Shazam on iOS

Spotify and Rdio subscribers can now listen to whole songs in Shazam on iOS

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Shazam is updating its iOS app in hopes of not only serving "as a destination for music fans" but "becoming the center of their music world." Users who pay for a subscription to Spotify or Rdio can link their accounts to the app to listen to full tracks for the first time, and browse charts of the most popular songs in their area. Recently identified songs can also be added automatically to playlists.

'Shazam Hall of Fame" lists the most often forgotten artists and songs

The updated app will include a new home screen offering "personalized music news and real time trending songs," and the company is also launching a "Shazam Hall of Fame" for the artists and songs its users have most asked the app to identify. The first four "platinum" entries (those with more than 15 million queries) are Avicii for "Wake Me Up", Gotye for "Somebody That I Used to Know", Robin Thicke for "Blurred Lines," and Passenger for "Let Her Go."

Shazam currently has more than 100 million monthly active users hoping to learn the names of artists and songs overheard in the real world. But without offering more than than this core functionality, the app seemed destined to be side-lined one day — especially if another music-streaming app introduces a similar feature. This latest update points to a future for the app beyond identifying music, TV shows, and films: Shazam wants to be where you consume content, not just where you name it.