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> This was the smart approach when Shazam launched in 2008.

Nitpick, but Shazam launched in 2002 as a dial-in service that replied with a text-message of the result. The first phone app was for BREW in 2006.

The 2008 date is just when Apple launched the app store; it was not possible for a third party to make an iPhone app before 2008.

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That’s more than a nitpick, that’s incredible! It still feels a bit magic today; I can’t imagine how magic that seemed in 2002!

It launched in Britain. I remember dialing 2580 in a nightclub, waving the phone around, and everyone being impressed when the identification was correct, as it usually was. Even with relatively obscure music.

A friend was in the beta and demoed it to us in a bar.. it was insane

In the UK you dialled 2580 from your (non smart) cellphone, it would hang up after a few seconds and you’d get an SMS right away with the ID of the track

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