WMG/Shazam

BUNNY GOES SHAZAM: Warner Music is set to announce a deal with Shazam, whereby the label group would use the famed app's data to find and sign new music, The New York Times reports. The acts in question would be inked to a Shazam imprint and marketed with assistance from the app company. Times writer Ben Sisario notes that terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but the pact is apparently non-exclusive. The piece points out that most of the music searched on Shazam aren't big hits, and that much of it is by unsigned artists. The app's ability to demonstrate which songs are taking off in which markets is illustrative, and as tabulations such as the USA Top 100 Tag Chart show, big jumps are clear markers of keen consumer interest. Having data that drills down much deeper could show trends in their nascent stage, assuming one has the resources and wherewithal to process and interpret it. "There's so much information that we've never had before as an industry, and Shazam is at the forefront of that," reads a quote from Warner COO Rob Wiesenthal. "When a consumer hears something he or she likes and holds up their phone, that enables us to learn more about the likes and dislikes of fans." Again, the downside of all that data is that you have to sort through it and read the tea leaves. But unlike the Lyor Cohen-Twitter Music nexus, Shazam actually has a track record of predicting hits in the digital era. (2/19a)