Music subscription service Rhapsody launched a free Android app dubbed SongMatch Wednesday that aims to compete with Shazam’s music recognition app. The app, which can be downloaded from Google Play, allows users to identify any song playing in the background by having their Android phone “listen in” for a few seconds. Rhapsody’s app is based on content recognition technology developed by Gracenote.
Users can then find out more about the specific artist, and even play the song provided they also have the regular Rhapsody Android app installed. The company is obviously using this to drive potential subscribers to its mobile application, and said in a blog post that it wants to publish additional “purpose-built music apps” in the coming months.
Rhapsody has been trying to differentiate itself from competitors like Spotify in the mobile space in recent months, and recently added a kind of jukebox for songs you already know to its app. With SongMatch, it’s hoping that some of Shazam’s users who are looking for a free and ad-free experience may switch over.
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