London company Shazam has created software that can listen to a song and match it up to one in their database. With the user interface of a mobile phone in front of this application, subscribers can call a special number when they hear a song they like, no matter if it’s in an elevator or on the radio, and be told the name and artist. Details about the tune can also be added to their online account so that users can easily make a purchase. The chief scientist for the music recognition algorithm is Avery Wang, formerly of Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music. The service will be launched in the UK this summer with a price of 50p a call. At the time of the demo for a Guardian article, the database had 300,000 songs and they hope to grow it to 1.6 million by August. Perhaps this is a technology that the music industry can finally get behind. But the privacy issues could be interesting. Combine it with GPS (or just a caller’s cell location) and you have a spy application for the music licensing folks. (via Jish)