Mobile music discovery provider Shazam has enhanced its app offering on the fast-growing Android Market, replicating its Apple App Store strategy. The company has made its premium app – Shazam Encore – available on Android Market for £2.99/US$4.99. Essentially a premium version of the company’s existing free offering, Shazam Encore offers unlimited tagging and unlimited recommendations. In a similar move to its App Store offering, Shazam will continue to support the free version too but is also touting Shazam Freemium, whereby users receive a seven day premium trial followed by the option to upgrade to Shazam Encore or have five tags a month thereafter. Shazam apps are live in all Android Market territories around the world, with Shazam Encore available in the 13 countries where Android Market supports carrier billing.

Since launch eight years ago, Shazam has been used by over 75 million people and is now available on Google’s Android Market, Apple’s App Store, BlackBerry App World, Nokia’s Ovi Store and Microsoft’s Windows Marketplace for Mobile. Shazam’s technology allows users to identify songs by holding their mobile phone up to a speaker. Shazam is believed to be profitable after raising around US$20 million, generating revenue through several methods, including taking a cut on advertising revenue, earning a fee when customers buy a song using the application and by people paying to subscribe to a premium service.