Launched in 2002, Shazam was acquired by Apple in 2018 for $400 million, enabling deeper integration into Apple's operating systems and streaming services.


Apple highlighted the scale of Shazam's achievement, equating 100 billion identifications to approximately 12 songs for every person on Earth. For perspective, it would take one person over 3,168 years to identify all these tracks, assuming they tagged a song every second without pause.

Notable Achievements:
The first song to hit 10 million recognitions on Shazam was Beautiful Things by Benson Boone. It took just 178 days to reach this milestone. However, at the current pace, it would take the song over 4,800 years to reach 100 billion recognitions.

The Evolution of Shazam:

  • 2002: Originally launched in the UK under the name "2580," users dialed the number and held their phones near the music source. The track name was sent back via SMS.
  • 2008: Shazam released its first app for iOS, significantly expanding its reach.
  • 2011: The service achieved its first billion song identifications.
  • Today: Shazam is available as a standalone app across all major platforms, seamlessly integrated into modern ecosystems.