How Much Does It Cost To Develop An App like Shazam?

Shazam is one of those music streaming apps whose unique approach has made investors interested and this is why they look for “How much does it cost to develop an app like Shazam”?

When a song gets stuck in your head & it becomes impossible to know the title of the song. It’s like having an itch in your mind. But, with Shazam music recognition apps in recent years, the attempt to identify a song has been easier than ever.

Even the reports say the same; Shazam is used to identify more than 20 million songs every day. Crazy, right?

With so many businesses getting inspired to build something like Shazam, the first question that pops into your mind is:

“How much does it cost to develop an app like Shazam”?

The Shazam app development cost varies from $ 10,000 to $50,000 depending on several factors such as the platform you want it to be on, time to develop, features you want to integrate, and more.

This blog has many crucial aspects about the Shazam like app development cost & factors affecting it; let’s get an overview of it in detail.

What is a Shazam App?

Shazam was founded back in the year 2002. Let us tell you, back then technology wasn’t sorcery it is today. And it was then this app changed the market forever.

The success of the platform and its unique functionality attracted a lot of attention. This led to Apple acquiring the platform for $400 million in 2018. In addition to this, it is generating an average of $39.9 million with revenue peaking at almost 100 million USD.

This is the reason why everyone is looking for Shazam app development to create their version of it.

It was founded by Chris Barton and Philip Inghelbrecht. For a long time, no one had an idea how this platform works. That was until Avery Li-Chung Wang, one of Shazam’s co-founders, published his academic paper explaining how music identification works.

Well, for those who don’t know what this platform does, let us tell you:

Shazam is a music identification application. As the name suggests, this app allows people to identify music they know nothing about. The Shazam app solves one of our biggest problems for us.

Imagine this, you hear a song and you love it. You want to add it to your playlist, but you don’t know what song it is. While even today with all the technology and internet it isn’t easy to find a song, back in the year 2002 it was next to impossible.

Well, all anyone needs is a Shazam. Open the Shazam app and let it hear music via microphone. Wait a second and boom, the app will give you all the details about the song.

This is the basic function of Shazam. Take a look at the full working process of the song finder app in the next section of the blog.

How Does a Song Finder App Like Shazam Work?

There are currently several Music Finder apps like Shazam present in the market to find, well, songs. With over 35 million tracks on the platform& new ones coming every day, this platform is booming.

So, how does this app work? How can you find a song just by using a mobile app?

Moving on, we shall be looking at the entire working process. The steps are, as mentioned below:

• Step 1- The very first step is downloading the app. Since the platform is created using hybrid app development, you can find it on Android as well as iOS.
• Step 2- Once the platform is accessible, it is time to register on it. Since this is an Apple product, you can log in using your number, email, Apple ID, and so on. After this is done, it’s time to move on.
• Step 3 – Now, if there is a song you want to learn more about all you need to do is get close enough to the sound source that your phone’s microphone can pick it up. After this, it’s time to record it on the app.
• Step 4– Shazam, using its amazing technology, makes a spectrogram out of that recorded clip. This is an important part of the process.
• Step 5- The platform will then try to match this spectrogram of the song with its database. With more than 34 million libraries of songs, you can find any song you want.
• Step 6- Once the song is matched with a song in the database, the match will be displayed to the user on the app screen.

This is the working process of the Shazam app. Now, if you are someone who is wondering about the technology behind this platform, well, we shall be looking at that as well.

You see, every song is unique in its own right.

In that way, the song has a unique fingerprint. Using AI and ML technologies as well as other technologies create a fingerprint from that image. There are some big technologies that go behind it, but let’s leave all that work to developers.

In addition to fingerprint technology, the platform has a strong song library where you can find literally every song. And it matches that.

This is the working process of the platform. Now, let’s look at some of the features to integrate in an app like Shazam.

Features to Include in Shazam Like App Development

Now before we delve in to learn about the cost to develop an app like Shazam, let’s get to know more about its features. Every form of music streaming app needs amazing features to survive in the market.

So, in this section, we will be sharing with you some of the features that should be included in your platform, listed below:

1. User-Friendly Interface

Before anything else, one of the most important factors is to provide your user with intuitive & user-friendly navigation.

Let your user easily navigate the app to boost engagement & identify the best way to make their experience effortless.

2. Social Integration

Social media apps are becoming quite a medium for people to share anything leading to increased social media development. So, integrating your app with social media platforms like Facebook & Instagram will be beneficial for you.

This way your app will be more visible to more and more people & get a free promotion, resulting in more people getting attracted, discovering & downloading the app.

3. Personal Account

One of the must-have features for Shazam-like app development is to provide a personal account where users can easily save their preferences, and get alerted on new songs.

Also, let them save the searched songs in their library that can be accessed anytime eliminating the frustration of forgetting a great song.

4. Display Song Lyrics

There are some features that add to the comfort of a user such as this one right here. Displaying song lyrics to users can help them identify a song, understand the lyrics, and sing along with it.

5. Easy Search

One of the huge reasons behind the success of music discovery apps like Shazam is its search functionality. You can implement such functionality too where users can hum to learn about a particular song. Also, you can let them search by typing the lyrics too.

6. Offline Mode

Some apps allow identifying songs without any internet songs; it’s great for those people who live in areas with network issues or poor reception.

Similar to Shazam, other apps like SoundCloud also offer this functionality to their users.

7. Music Streaming

With the constant increase in demand to create a music streaming app, it’s right to say integrating music streaming will be the right idea. This can be a great way for your users to discover new music.

8. Music Database

If you are planning to build a similar app like Shazam, it’s best to add a huge music database to your app. This will help you to locate the right songs for the user & identify them rightly.

You can increase your database regularly with new music from different regions, different languages this will attract wide-ranging users.

So, finally, you have an app idea of the best features that can make you stand out among your competitors. But, mind it; these can increase your cost to make an app like Shazam. Nevertheless, it’s worth your investment.

Moving on, one of the main questions that are stopping you from investing is what benefits it will provide. Our next section will clear this out.

Why Develop an App Like Shazam?

Are you curious about why you need to develop an app like Shazam, here are some of the best benefits that will inspire you.

So, what is the reason to develop Shazam like the app?

Let’s get to know more about them in the section below:

• Revenue Generation Opportunity

Music enthusiasts are always searching for such apps that cater to their needs. As a result, one of the major reasons to create an app like Shazam can be a revenue generation opportunity.

While Shazam is already popular and has a huge fan base, the market still has space for other forte apps catering to specific music genres, or unique features.

This way, you can tailor your app’s needs to your requirements. By analyzing the complete cost to build a Shazam clone & tailoring the app to a particular user group, you will be able to make great money out of your app.

• Strong User Base

Shazam has a strong hold on its users. And, as per the growing demand, the market needs more such apps.

By leveraging the features of the Shazam app, you can fill up market gaps and cater to the growing needs of people who like specific genres, music scenes, or something else.

Approx. 78% listen to music using some kind of music streaming service. So, getting an app has huge potential to be successful leading to increased engagement.

• Engaging User Experience

A well-designed app can be a great tool to discover music for your users. And, to engage with your app as well, this way you can foster user engagement on your app & loyal user base.

Visually appealing apps help to create a better impression on your user. Once the users can find relevant music timely, this can enhance their experience with your app and can hook them for hours to your app.

• Community-Building

By integrating your app with several features and different technologies, you can inspire your users to use your app more. Also, provide them some benefits of sharing their music or app with their friends.

This can create a network effect and attract new users, fostering a sense of community for your music streaming app. This can also help you to know about their feedback, suggestions & bugs to improve the quality of your app.

• Organic User Growth

A well-designed app can cost to make an app like Shazam but it will boost brand awareness & organic user growth.

Once you integrate your app with different social sharing features, it can lead to new discoveries for your users, resulting in attracting users & retaining old ones without any marketing effort.

With that, it’s time to move forward with the cost to develop an app like Shazam, the much-awaited section of this blog.

What is the Cost to Develop an App Like Shazam?

So, how much does it cost to make an app like Shazam?

The Shazam-like app development cost varies from $10,000-$50,000 as discussed. However, the cost can vary on different factors.

Here is a small breakdown of the cost to develop a music streaming app:

Through this table, did you get an idea that there are several factors that affect Shazam like app development cost? We are sharing details about them below:

Factors Affecting the Cost to Build an App Like Shazam

See there is no exact number of the cost that we can tell you.

If you want to know how much it costs to create an app like Shazam, you need to know about the different factors that affect the cost.

So, here they are for a better understanding.

1. Complexity

One of the factors that affects the cost to build an app like Shazam.

If your app idea is complex, then it will take time for developers to work on it & will need additional resources too. This can lead to an increasing overall cost to build a Shazam clone.

A basic app can be less complex, leading to less cost, whereas an advanced app can be more multipart, resulting in more resources & cost.

2. Tech Stack

A tech stack is a crucial part of your music-discovery app.

It includes a set of technologies, frameworks, tools & much more. and affects your security, user experience, and much more, which are the core aspects of any platform.

Here’s a small depiction of the potential tech stack & its connected cost.

3. App’s UI/UX Design

One of the common factors is UI/UX design which requires your attention. Whether you develop an iOS design or an Android design, this difference itself can affect your Shazam clone app development cost.

A basic & functional design with minimal animations can be less expensive compared to a high-fidelity design with a custom user interface.

By carefully considering your needs, you can easily make a balance between intuitive & engaging UI/UX design & development budget.

4. Development Team

A major chunk of your cost to develop a music streaming app goes to finding an app developer. See, there are different ways to do it such as:

• Outsourcing to a company.
• In-house team.
• Staff Augmentation

All types of options have their benefits & disadvantages. Other than that, your preference, & project requirements will be the deciding factor which one you want to choose.

But, we will suggest an experienced mobile app development company like Nimble AppGenie to get the best music streaming app in the market.

5. Location of your Developer’s Team

Yes, it’s no surprise that the location of your developer’s team plays a role in impacting your cost to build a Shazam clone app. Developers from different regions charge different amounts.

Such as, if you hire mobile app developers from the USA they might be more expensive than other countries like Eastern Europe or Asia. However, ensure to communicate with them properly for project efficiency.

Let’s see a simple presentation to learn about the hourly cost of different countries that can affect the cost to develop an app.

Now, with this out of the way, it’s time to understand the revenue model to earn back what cost you spent for getting a Shazam-like app.

How to Make Money with a Shazam-Like App?

To generate revenue from Shazam-like apps, you need to incorporate some monetization strategies.

And to guide you with that, we are here with the best strategies for your app.

Let’s get to know them:

• Freemium Model

In this exceptional money-making model, businesses usually provide free features to users and add a premium version at cost.

So, by leveraging this model, you can also allow users to explore your music streaming app for free and then you can ask for a fee for extra features such as ad-free experience.

• In-App Advertising

Even if you keep your app free, there is a way to make money through it which is “In-app advertising’’.

There are different display ads such as banners, interstitial ads, or video ads within the app that you can show to your user of a business and earn money for pay-per-click or for impressions.

It’s a one-of-a-kind advertising method that can be a good monetization strategy for your app.

• Sponsorship

It is one of the most straightforward ways to earn money for any music streaming service. Through this, you can generate revenue by partnering with different brands.

Just make sure to show ads that align with your user’s interests to generate a substantial amount of revenue, expand your reach & potentially improve your brand image.

• Affiliate Marketing

Of course, if you are paying a hefty cost to develop an app like Shazam, you will need more than one monetization strategy to recover the money. Consequently, Affiliate marketing can be a good option for you.

In this, you can partner with different streaming services like Spotify where once a user song is identified by you, through your app you can offer them an option to listen to complete songs on partnered platform. This way you can earn quite a good commission.

• Data Licensing

It can be a great way of earning great money.

A legal process through which you can acquire user data and control to share with someone under a certain kind of agreement, these data then can be used to personalize the music experience of the users.

However, we will suggest if you really want to earn quite a good amount of money you should ensure to utilize multiple monetization models to earn from multiple sources.

How Long Does It Take to Develop an App Like Shazam?

Now, as much as it is important to know how much does it cost to develop an app like Shazam, it’s also important to know the time to create an app like Shazam.

On average, it takes 2 to 6 months, but this time can increase if your project is complex and requires too much resources, developer’s time & effort.

Get to know more about it through a small table breakdown:

How Nimble AppGenie Can Help to Build an App Like Shazam?

Do you know that the music streaming app grew by 10% over the last year? And, an approx. 78% person likes to listen to music via music streaming services.

If you want to hit the market with a leading music streaming app like Shazam? You need to get assistance from the best music streaming app development company, Nimble AppGenie.

Here are some points that will make you consider us for your next project:

• Experience & Expertise: Our teams of designers, Developers & IT experts have ample years of experience to bring a music app that is the next big thing in the market. Our teams of Designers, Developers & IT experts have ample years of experience to bring a music app that is the next big thing in the market. We have also worked on a similar project i.e. Nujaxxx that is highlighted below which makes us even better choice than others.

• Quality & Value: Want help with your idea, we are right here. We offer superior quality services that help your app find a suitable place in this growing market and differentiate you from competitors.
• Innovation: As a leading company in the market, we always believe in working with cutting-edge technologies, trends & innovation to deliver value to end users and make your app future-proof.
• Trust & Reputation: The reason we have a 95% retention rate is due to our open communication, transparency & commitment to delivering amazing solutions as per customer needs have made us what we are today.

If you have an idea, you can reach out to us to turn it into a digital solution.

Conclusion

Shazam is one of the best & most popular music identification apps worldwide, and to create a similar app, it requires special expertise to develop a profit-driving app.

If you want to leverage this trend and enter the market with a Shazam-clone app requires careful planning & significant investment as well as the help of talented companies like Nimble AppGenie.

So, get in touch with us & boost your business growth.

FAQs

Niketan Sharma

Niketan Sharma is the CTO of Nimble AppGenie, a prominent website and mobile app development company in the USA that is delivering excellence with a commitment to boosting business growth & maximizing customer satisfaction. He is a highly motivated individual who helps SMEs and startups grow in this dynamic market with the latest technology and innovation.