Music discovery service Shazam on Wednesday released a new music player app that adds the karaoke-esque "LyricPlay" feature as well as some social options.
Shazam Player is available now in the App Store, and it basically serves the same function as the "Music" app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, but with a few additions. Most notable is LyricPlay, which will scroll the lyrics of select songs as they play, highlighting the words that are being sung.
When you first download Shazam Player, it will ask for permission to scan your existing music library for songs that have LyricPlay. Of the 430 songs I currently have on my iPhone, 128 were compatible with LyricPlay. Shazam Player pulls in your entire music library, however; if it is LyricPlay-compatible, there will be a little music note in a bubble icon next to the song. Tap it to get lyrics.
Each song also has a small blue arrow next to it; tap it and drop-down menu will provide the option to discuss the song via Twitter or Facebook, see a bio or review of the artist, launch a YouTube video of the song, or see if the artist has any upcoming tour dates. Swipe left and you can add that song to the "good" or "bad" list, which will affect how often that song is played.
The app also includes a list of the most popular LyricPlay songs, with the option to purchase them from iTunes if they are not in your library.
For music discovery, you can launch the original Shazam app from within Shazam Player. Shazam lets you hold your phone up to a speaker and its technology will identify the song playing.
Shazam Player is available now in the U.S. and U.K. and is a free download.