Today I finally downloaded Midomi Ultra - the free update to Midomi. In January 2009 Strategy Analytics Wireless Media Lab published a user evaluation of music recognition services - Music Identification: Midomi Has More Options but Shazam More Intuitive Midomi Ultra has made three major changes that should improve and enhance the user experience. Firstly, all tag options (identify a song that is being played, sung or hummed, or saying or typing in an artist or song title) are now available from the same homepage. Midomi also provides the user with clear instructions as to how each tag option works.
The second big improvement is the process for identifying music that is being played. Once Midomi Ultra has heard enough of the song to identify it, it will automatically stop listening, and take the user directly to the search results - eliminating 2 steps from the old process. The third big improvement is that Midomi Ultra automatically saves a history of tagged songs. The first version of Midomi required users to manually save any results, with many users accidentally deleting a song they had tagged as they did not realize they needed to save it, or by pressing the wrong button. While the original Midomi service functioned pretty well, the new and improved Midomi Ultra now offers a simpler user interface that is extremely intuitive, therefore providing an enhanced user experience.