After flirting with unlimited music ID on Android for awhile, Shazam has decided to make the switch permanent, and are now including iPhone in the fun. As a part of the switch, they’re kicking off a contest. For every song you tag using their app until November 15, you have a chance at winning a trip to see pop singer Kelly Clarkson, winner of the first American Idol, while she’s on tour, plus she’ll hand over a checque for $25,000 to you on a silver platter. Not a bad deal, especially if you’re tagging stuff anyway. The number of tags you could make on a monthly basis used to vary depending on if you had paid for the premium version or you were coasting on the free one. Don’t worry, if you’ve already paid for the app, you still have the bonus of not having to put up with ads.
Now anyone can find out more about music playing just by holding their phone out, and access artist information, lyrics, concert dates, watch videos, buy DRM-free tracks, or share the song out to Facebook or Twitter. Shazam also offers a cool LyricPlay feature so you can follow along with a song as it’s being played, though that’s limited to the premium version. Shazam’s even starting to flirt with identifying TV shows and commercials.
SoundHound has been offering free unlimited IDs for just a little while longer, and have a significant lead on Shazam thanks to their new Spotify partnership, but the race between these two is far from decided. (Update: Oh hey, Shazam has Spotify integration too!) Music-lovers, which app do you prefer more? Shazam has been doing this for longer, but SoundHound can also recognize humming or singing along with track playback. You can find Shazam in the Android Market here, or in the iPhone App Store below.