1 9 9 9 ▁by ▁Bart on ▁and ▁Ing hel bre cht , ▁who ▁were ▁students ▁at ▁University ▁of ▁California , ▁Ber keley ▁and ▁M uk her je e , ▁who ▁worked ▁at ▁a ▁London - based ▁internet ▁consult ing ▁firm ▁called ▁Vi ant . ▁In ▁need ▁of ▁a ▁digital ▁signal ▁processing ▁special ist , ▁the ▁found ing ▁team ▁then ▁h ired ▁Wang , ▁who ▁had ▁received ▁his ▁Ph D ▁from ▁Stan ford ▁University .. ▁It ▁first ▁made ▁a ▁profit ▁in ▁ 2 0 1 6 , ▁ 1 7 ▁years ▁after ▁launch . ▁▁ 2 0 0 2 – 2 0 0 6 : ▁Early ▁days ▁of ▁the ▁service ▁ ▁Initial ly , ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 2 , ▁the ▁service ▁was ▁launched ▁only ▁in ▁the ▁UK ▁and ▁was ▁known ▁as ▁" 2 5 8 0 ", ▁as ▁the ▁number ▁was ▁the ▁short code ▁that ▁customers ▁d ial led ▁from ▁their ▁mobile ▁phone ▁to ▁get ▁music ▁recogn ised . ▁The ▁phone ▁would ▁automatically ▁hang ▁up ▁after ▁ 3 0 ▁seconds . ▁A ▁result ▁was ▁then ▁sent ▁to ▁the ▁user ▁in ▁the ▁form ▁of ▁a ▁text ▁message ▁containing ▁the ▁song ▁title ▁and ▁artist ▁name . ▁At ▁a ▁later ▁date , ▁the ▁service ▁also ▁began ▁to ▁add ▁hyper links ▁in ▁the ▁text ▁message ▁to ▁allow ▁the ▁user ▁to ▁download ▁the ▁song ▁online . ▁ ▁Sh az am ▁launched ▁in ▁the ▁US ▁on ▁the ▁AT & T ▁W ire less ▁network ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 4 ▁in ▁a ▁joint ▁offering ▁with ▁Music phone