GLOBAL – We’ve all been there. Sitting in a bar or in the back of a taxi and a song plays over the radio that you really like, but you can’t remember what it’s called or even who sings it. Rather than straining your brain for the rest of the day, there is an easier way to find that song name or title. It’s called Shazam, and this week I give it a once over in our weekly app review slot.

Shazam have been around since 2002 and already has 50 million customers in 150 countries, which they claim makes them “the world’s leading mobile music discovery provider”. I can’t say if that’s true or not, but the number of users speak for themselves I think.

To name that tune, is really very simple. First, you load up Shazam and accept the usual terms and conditions, then you’re greeted by the main screen. It’s at this point you’re given the options on what you want to do next. If you hit the big blue button in the middle, which looks like an S, you’ll see that Shazam will now be listening to the music that’s playing in the background and will try to identify it. It only takes about 10 seconds for all this magic to happen, but the result is that you’ll be left with the track details, including the album name displayed on your phone. This is called Tagging and these Tags are saved much like the bookmark/favourite option in a web browser, which means you can find all the details of that song without having to go through the process again.

That in itself is some clever stuff, but that’s not the only thing you can do with Shazam. By clicking the on-screen icons you can read a track review, get information on the band’s tour dates or one really great feature is that Shazam is tied into Ovi Music so you can download the track directly onto your phone for future listening.

Screenshots from my Nokia X6 and using Shazam to identify a track.

I like Shazam and what it has to offer. I think being able to identify tracks in 10 seconds is a good feature in itself, but the ability to get background information on the artist or band is an extra bonus that I wasn’t expecting. With the added function of being able to download the track to my phone straight from Ovi Music is another nice touch, which means I can identify my new favourite song, and download it in one go.

Shazam is free from Ovi Store for a 30 day trial with full features, however when that runs out you’ll be limited to Tagging 5 tracks a month. But you can purchase the full version for only £3.00.

Available for a variety of Nokia devices, including the Nokia E72, Nokia X6, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia N97 Mini, Nokia E75 and more, so grab it from Ovi Store today and take part in our poll.

What do you think of Shazam? Do you find it useful, or would you like to see any other features added in the future?