Cox, Cumulus, Entercom, and iHeartMedia are partnering with Sun Broadcast Group and Shazam for what they call a “groundbreaking audio audience measurement solution in the U.S. that will deliver market- and station-level audience metrics across all radio formats.”

The new system will utilize Shazam’s audio recognition technology to build a cross-platform measurement system. How that will work is not detailed in the release.

Broadcast radio industry leaders iHeartMedia, Cumulus, Entercom, Cox and Sun Broadcast Group announced today a strategic alliance with Shazam for a groundbreaking audio audience measurement solution in the U.S. that will deliver market- and station-level audience metrics across all radio formats.

This new measurement solution for broadcast and digital audio brings together these companies’ proprietary data assets and measurement capabilities. Utilizing the most innovative audio recognition technology available and information from specific geographic markets, it will leverage information collected from tens of millions of devices to produce the accurate, stable cross-platform audience metrics that the industry has been waiting for.

“We welcome this kind of innovation in the audio sector, particularly as more and more advertisers are turning to audio solutions to reach the hundreds of millions of audio consumers monthly,” said Bill Koenigsberg, President, CEO and Founder of Horizon Media. “A solution that better measures audio is good for us, for our clients and for their brands.”

“Shazam delivers unparalleled audio insights that will enable stable measurement across both digital and broadcast radio, making this an extremely exciting initiative for both iHeartMedia and the audio industry,” said Radha Subramanyam, iHeartMedia’s President of Research and Insights. “The richness of our data, combined with Shazam’s measurement capabilities, will enable much deeper insights than traditional audio measurement does, and we believe it’s a necessary and valuable addition to the evolving multi-platform audio measurement marketplace.”

“Shazam’s audio insights can be an empowering measurement tool for Cumulus Media, as well as the audio industry,” said Pierre Bouvard, Chief Insights Officer, Cumulus Media. “Clients are demanding more insights and targeting capabilities from media companies, and radio needs to offer what has become basic table stakes. Shazam can help us deliver on these expectations.”

“We are pleased to be working with Shazam and the industry in support of an alternative audience measurement tool that will provide more robust information on the hundreds of millions of local radio listeners,” said David Field, President and CEO of Entercom. “With this type of innovation, we believe media strategists and planners will be prompted to re-think their media mix models to give radio its fair share of the media buy.”

“We like what we see going on with Shazam,” said Bill Hoffman, President of Cox Media Group. “Listeners have more contact with their brand of choice than ever before. We continue to get excited about Audience Measurement that keeps up with the rapid advances of technology to accurately account for who and what makes up our audience.”

“Shazam has become the industry standard in delivering fast, accurate audio recognition at scale,” said Greg Glenday, Shazam’s Chief Revenue Officer. “We are thrilled to help support these radio industry leaders as they continue to innovate.”