It was co-founded in 1999 by Chris Barton and Philip Inghelbrecht, who were working at the internet consulting company Viant at the time, and in 2017Acquired by AppleThe music recognition software Shazam reached monthly usage last year.More than 10 billion timesAfter setting a new record, it has now officially celebrated the 20th anniversary of the service. It also announced that it has achieved a cumulative recognition of more than 700 billion songs this week, and the average number of users worldwide exceeds 2.25 million per month.
Apple said that Shazam has changed the way people interact with music. When users hear a piece of music, they may feel familiar but find it difficult to remember which song it is, or they may be attracted by the melody and want to know more about the song. They can identify it through the Shazam service.
In the 20 years since the service was launched, the songs most identified through the Shazam service include "Hey, Soul Sister" by the California alternative rock group Train and "Cheap Thrills" by Australian singer-songwriter Sia. Apple has also created a list of songs that have been widely searched by music lovers in the past 20 years through the Apple Music service.
Through the Shazam service, Apple has allowed many music creators and newcomers to be noticed, and also made their songs easier to listen to. For example, Australian rapper Masked Wolf, who was on Shazam's "Five Artists to Watch" list in 2021, created "Astronaut In The Ocean", which became the song most identified through the Shazam service that year.
As for the British singer's 1985 song "Running Up That Hill", it became the song with the highest number of identifications through the Shazam service because it appeared in the hit Netflix series "Stranger Things". It also maintained the top spot on the Shazam service's global top 200 list for 10 consecutive days and ranked first in 25 countries, surpassing all song rankings in 2022.
In addition, the Shazam service also helps promote songs from artists around the world to global regions. For example, the song that topped the global charts for the longest time in 2021 was "Love Nwantiti [Remix]" by Nigerian artist CKay, and it became the second song to be identified more than 100 million times through the Shazam service within a week.
Over the past 20 years, Shazam has continued to innovate and develop new ways to connect music fans with their favorite music and artists through new tools. For example, users can now simply identify a song through the Shazam service or search through the Shazam app or website to display nearby concerts and ticket information through the Concert Discovery feature.
important dates
- September 2002:Shazam launched in the UK as a text message service. Users could dial "2580" on their mobile phone and identify the song as it played. They would then receive a text message with the song title and artist.
- September 2008:Shazam launches on the all-new App Store. Shazam later launches on Android in October 2008.
- September 2015:Shazam is available on the first Apple Watch.
- September 2018:Shazam joins the Apple family.
- September 2021:Shazam receives over 10 billion recognitions per month.
- September 2022:Shazam has been installed over 20 billion times.
- September 2022:Shazam celebrates 20 years of music discovery, reaching 700 billion Shazams since launch.
A memorable first time
- First song Shazam recognized:T. Rex's Jeepster (April 2002, 4)1
- The first song identified using the Shazam iOS app:How Am I Different by Aimee Mann (July 2008, 7)
- First track to reach 1,000 Shazams:Eminem's "Cleanin' Out My Closet" (September 2002)
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- The first track to reach 100 million Shazams:Ke$ha's TiK ToK (February 2010)
- The first track to reach 1000 million Shazams:"Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye feat. Kimbra (December 2012)
- The first track to reach 2000 million Shazams:Lilly Wood & The Prick and Robin Schulz's "Prayer In C (Robin Schulz Radio Edit)" (October 2015)
- First artist to reach 100 million Shazam recognitions:Lil Wayne (February 2009)
- First artist to reach 1000 million Shazam recognitions:Lil Wayne (February 2011)
- First artist to reach 1 million Shazam recognitions:David Guetta (May 2015)
The most Shazam-recognized tracks
- The fastest track to reach 100 million Shazams:"Butter" by BTS (9 days)
- The fastest track to reach 1,000 million Shazams:Shape of You by Ed Sheeran (87 days)
- The fastest track to reach 2,000 million Shazams:Dance Monkey by Tones And I (219 days)
Shazam's greatest hits ever
- Drake The most Shazamed artist of all time, with over 3.5 million Shazams on songs featuring or co-starring the artist. One DanceIt is Drake's most popular track, with over 1,700 million Shazam hits.
- Tones And I OfDance MonkeyIt is the most Shazamed song of all time, with over 4100 million Shazams.
- Gnarls barkley OfCrazyIt is the song most identified using the "2580" text messaging service Shazam.
Top Shazam Songs by Music Genre
- Best Hip-Hop/Rap Song: "Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton
- Best Dance Song:"Prayer In C (Robin Schulz Radio Edit)" by Lilly Wood & The Prick and Robin Schulz
- Best R&B/Soul"All of Me" by John Legend
- Best Latin Song:J Balvin and Willy William's "Mi Gente"
- Best Pop Song:Passenger's "Let Her Go"
- Best Alternative Song: "Dance Monkey" by Tones And I
- Best Singer-Songwriter:"Take Me to Church" by Hozier
