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Rejoice! Shazam now features QR code recognition!

By | Published on Friday 29 May 2015

Shazam

Shazam has added a whole load of new functionality through visual recognition. And that sounds quite cool doesn’t it? That’s because it is. Mainly because it’s being partly achieved through QR codes – aka the coolest marketing tool ever invented.

Do you remember the time before QR codes? Oh, it was awful, wasn’t it? But then they arrived and revolutionised the world. Now everyone’s forever scanning those little squares with the cameras on their phones and being transported to a magical world of previously unimaginable content. Like that time I was trying to call a company and instead of just typing out the telephone number like in the bad old days, you had to scan a QR code. It was so exciting. So fresh. So new. So… liberating.

It’s amazing it’s taken Shazam so long to come around to the idea of QR codes, really. They are just so great. The company has done boring old audio recognition for years, of course. Tediously identifying music in seconds like anyone and their dog could do. ‘Oh, what’s this new song I couldn’t possibly live without?’ ‘Oh, I’d like to find out more about this thing I’m watching on TV with little to no effort’. Boring.

And so finally Shazam has done something interesting by integrating QR code technology into its apps. It means that you’ll be able to wave your phone camera at posters, packaging, other printed stuff, and in the time it would take to type a few words into a search engine, you can be looking at some cool content that will totally enrich your life in ways you could never imagine.

What sort of content? “Unique mobile experiences”, that’s what. How about some “more impactful engagements”? That do it for you? Oh, and did I mention “custom specialty apps”? So awesome.

“The introduction of visual recognition is another step on our journey to extend the ways people can use Shazam to engage with the world around them”, said Shazam CEO Rich Riley, announcing all this. “For brands, we’re providing a near-frictionless way to engage customers on their mobile devices, with a single tap of a button”.

And there are brands partnering on all this right at launch. Because who wouldn’t wanted to be involved in something that gives customers the opportunity to scan QR codes? (Or special Shazam logos, I should possibly add.) Partners include Disney, Target, HarperCollins, The Wall Street Journal, Evian, and Warner Bros.

Fuck! I am so excited! I’m going to go Shazam me some water.



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