Don’t know what that earworm you caught off the radio was? Auto Shazam has you covered.

It was bound to happen. Shazam, the popular app that allows you to identify what song you’re listening to, has now rolled out an Auto Shazam feature for iPhone users. The new feature enables users to let the app background listen to certain types of sounds, including music, TV shows and adverts, and identify them for later reference.

While there is a certain amount of dystopian fright attached to that idea, it’s being done with user privacy firmly in mind. The Automatic ID service is opt-in only, has to be deliberately enabled and has a countdown to disable itself.

This new service echoes similar life-listening devices that were unveiled this past year, and raises interesting questions as to what else will become ‘identifiable’ in the future from the sounds we hear every day. The feature comes with Shazam’s advert-listening technology which will allow it to make money straight away. [Via Fastcompany.com]

This new feature also raises interesting potential for Shazam’s usage as a prediction tool for what artists will break through year-on-year. The predictions for 2014 drawn from the app’s usage in 2013 certainly seem to reflect realistic trends, and Auto Shazam could offer an alternative set of insights into the most heard songs around the world.