For two decades, the music discovery tools Shazam has helped to unite music fans across the globe with their new favorite song. As the app celebrates its 20th anniversary, it’s looking back at some of the most historic and record-breaking feats achieved by musicians through the platform. Among them appear BTS, whose hit single “Butter” became the fastest track to reach 1 million Shazams after only nine days, and Drake, who has been named the most Shazamed artist of all time with over 350 million Shazams across songs as both a lead and featured artist.
Shazam is also an app that prevails across genres. Among the top Shazam’s songs by category appear J Balvin and Willy William in Latin for “Mi Gente,” Hozier in singer/songwriter for “Take Me To Church,” Tones And I in alternative for “Dance Money,” John Legend in R&B for “All of Me,” and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis with Ray Dalton in hip-hop/rap for “Can’t Hold Us.”
“The fact that people all over the world took time out of their day to pull out their phone and Shazam my songs is a huge honor for me as an artist,” said Masked Wolf, whose single “Astronaut in the Ocean” was the most globally Shazamed track of 2021. “You know you’ve got something special if you see the Shazam stats moving.”
Nigerian artist CKay added: “Shazam has played an impactful role in my career. It allowed millions of people all over the world to discover me and my unique Nigerian sound. It made me a global sensation even before I started to perform all over the world. The story of CKay cannot be told without Shazam connecting me to the world.”
When Shazam launched in 2002, it wasn’t as simple a process as pulling up the app online, or using the music recognition tool on a mobile device. Back then, users had to dial in to the number “2580” and hold their phone up while the song played. A few minutes later, they would receive a text message continuing the name of the song and the artist who performs it.
Although music is more easily accessible than ever in 2022, millions of music fans still turn to Shazam to identify that earworm they just can’t shake.