Shazam celebrates 20th anniversary of recognising songs

Shazam is 20 years old and, in that time, has recognised more than 70 billion songs for users around the world so they can put a name and artists to the song they are hearing.

And to mark the occasion Apple Music has created a special playlist featuring the most Shazamed song of each calendar year for the last 20 years.

Over the years, Shazam has helped identify breaking new talent to millions of listeners around the world.

The Shazam chart have also pointed out significant cultural moments including the return of Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill after it was featured in Stranger Things on Netflix.

Shazam also recently added a new feature – concert discovery – which can inform fans of concerts and when tickets go on sale in their area.

To look back on its achievements, Shazam has released some notable moments and milestones over its two-decade history.

Important Dates

• August 2002: Shazam launches as a text-message service based in the UK. At the time, users could identify songs by dialling ‘2580’ on their phone and holding it up as a song played. They were then sent an SMS message telling them the song title and the name of the artist.
• July 2008: Shazam launches on the brand-new App Store. Shazam later launched its Android version in October 2008.
• April 2015: Shazam becomes available on the first Apple Watch.
• September 2018: Shazam joins the Apple family.
• June 2021: Shazam surpasses 1 billion Shazams per month.
• May 2022: Shazam surpasses 2 billion lifetime installs.
• August 2022: Shazam celebrates 20 years of music discovery and hits 70 billion all-time Shazams.

Notable Firsts

• First-ever Shazamed song: “Jeepster” by T. Rex (19 April 2002)1
• First Shazamed song on the iOS app: “How Am I Different” by Aimee Mann (10 July 2008)
• First track to reach 1,000 Shazams: “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” by Eminem (September 2002)
• First track to reach 1 million Shazams: “TiK ToK” by Ke$ha (February 2010)
• First track to reach 10 million Shazams: “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye feat. Kimbra (December 2012)
• First track to reach 20 million Shazams: “Prayer In C (Robin Schulz Radio Edit)” by Lilly Wood & The Prick and Robin Schulz (October 2015)
• First artist to hit 1 million Shazams: Lil Wayne (February 2009)
• First artist to hit 10 million Shazams: Lil Wayne (June 2011)
• First artist to hit 100 million Shazams: David Guetta (May 2015)

Fastest Tracks to Accumulate Shazams

• Fastest track to reach 1 million Shazams: “Butter” by BTS (nine days)
• Fastest track to reach 10 million Shazams: “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran (87 days)
• Fastest track to reach 20 million Shazams: “Dance Monkey” by Tones And I (219 days)

Most Shazamed of All Time

• Drake is the most Shazamed artist of all time with over 350 million Shazams across songs the artist has led or featured on. “One Dance” is Drake’s most popular track at over 17 million Shazams.
• “Dance Monkey” by Tones And I is the most Shazamed song ever with over 41 million Shazams.
• “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley was the most Shazamed song using the ‘2580’ text service.

Top Shazamed Songs by Genre

• Top Hip-Hop/Rap: “Can’t Hold Us” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton
• Top Dance: “Prayer In C (Robin Schulz Radio Edit)” by Lilly Wood & The Prick and Robin Schulz
• Top R&B/Soul: “All of Me” by John Legend
• Top Latin: “Mi Gente” by J Balvin and Willy William
• Top Pop: “Let Her Go” by Passenger
• Top Alternative: “Dance Monkey” by Tones And I
• Top Singer/Songwriter: “Take Me to Church” by Hozier