BMI, which collects royalties on behalf of musicians and their publishers, has set up a wholly owned subsidiary called Landmark Digital Services. It will use the Shazam technology under the name BlueArrow to identify and track its artists' performances across an array of media.
However, as part of the agreement, Shazam will still be responsible for developing the music recognition software's consumer business.
BMI will initially use the technology to monitor the US's estimated 10,000 radio stations. The tool will eventually be rolled out across TV and the internet.
"Pattern recognition technology is the single most promising way to identify music performed on today's media, and further into the digital future," BMI president and chief executive Del Bryant said.
"BlueArrow technology will give us a powerful new tool for the identification of music played on radio, television and in digital media."
Shazam has signed numerous deals with mobile operators and media companies in more than 20 countries across Europe, the US and Asia.
"This transaction confirms the value and superiority of the technology developed by Shazam," Shazam chief executive Andrew Fisher said.
"[The deal] permits us to now focus our activities on continuing to exploit the significant opportunities of mobile entertainment markets," he said.
Shazam was launched in August 2002 and to date more than 4.5m people have used the service.
BMI is a not-for-profit American performing rights organisation that represents approximately 300,000 songwriters, composers and publishers across all genres of music. The firm collects licence fees from businesses that use music, which it then distributes as royalties to artists and copyright owners. UK artists that it represents include Sir Elton John, Sting, Eric Clapton, The Bee Gees and Sir Tim Rice.
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