Skip to main content

Apple Music takes a peek at what people are Shazaming for new weekly playlist

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Apple Music and Spotify. They’re the music streaming titans battling it out for supremacy around the world, and so far, Spotify is in the lead. One of the features that make Spotify so popular is its constantly updated playlists. They’re the key new music discovery on the service and its Discover Weekly playlist is one of the biggest. It’s likely the inspiration behind Apple Music’s latest feature, a new chart/playlist called Shazam Discovery Top 50, the first of its kind on Apple Music that uses the company’s Shazam acquisition.

It’s not entirely clear just how the Shazam app and its massive group of users are contributing to the list, which is a global ranking of 50 artists that are “on the move and trending.” This could be the biggest names in music, but we also get the sense it will tend to favor up-and-coming artists. “Shazam’s proprietary algorithms [will offer] a unique predictive view on rising artists and reacting tracks to Apple Music subscribers,” Apple told Variety. The chart will be updated every Tuesday to reflect the latest changes in rank.

“The ranked songs are all at different points in their individual lifecycle and the majority of artists represented are emerging and up-and-coming,” Apple said. “All are experiencing a level of momentum indicative of future potential of hitting the top of Shazam’s Charts, and show any or all of the following patterns: Moving quickly through Shazam’s charts, growing rapidly, steadily and/or geographically.”

The chart is available in the U.S., but international availability may vary. When we checked as of the publication time of this story, the chart could not be accessed in the Canadian Apple Music app, or on iTunes.

This marks the first time Apple has integrated Shazam into Apple Music — at least on a public-facing basis. Acquired by Apple a year ago, Shazam’s music identification service is used 20 million times a day. The Shazam app — for iOS and Android — has been downloaded more than 1 billion times. With that kind of usage, Shazam must possess a data vault that would make even Google envious. Presumably, Apple will continue to leverage insights from Shazam within Apple Music, and possibly its other online services too. In its ongoing battle with Spotify, it will need to use every advantage it can find.

Editors' Recommendations

Simon Cohen
Contributing Editor, A/V
Simon Cohen covers a variety of consumer technologies, but has a special interest in audio and video products, like…
What is Qobuz? Music, features, and pricing explained
A person using the Qobuz app on an iPhone.

Some audiophiles may argue that there’s no better sound quality than that achieved by physical media (and in many cases, they’re correct), but not all of us can afford the turntables, amplifiers, hi-fi speakers, and towering vinyl record and CD collections that go into a connoisseur’s setup. But thanks to music-streaming platforms like Qobuz, we can all listen to ultra-high-quality audio, and for a price that doesn’t keep us up at night. 

Here’s everything you need to know about one of the coolest music-streaming platforms in town. Just don’t tell your vinyl-collecting diehard pals you read this guide.

Read more
What is Pandora? Music, features and pricing explained
Different screens for the iOS Pandora app.

When it comes to music-streaming services, would it surprise you to learn that there was a time when platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal didn’t even exist? Back in these prehistoric days, our melodically inclined ancestors were stuck with things called “radio,” “CDs,” and "vinyl," the latter of which is actually doing really well at the moment. That is until services like iTunes and a mighty savior called Pandora arrived to transition mankind from its pit of musical starvation to a haven of harmonies.

Believe it or not, Pandora is still around today, and it’s still a pretty good way to enjoy your favorite tunes, albums, and podcasts. Whether this is the first time you’re hearing about the service, or you want a refresher on everything Pandora has to offer, we’ve put together this guide to address the platform’s most salient features.

Read more
What is Amazon Music: everything you need to know
Amazon Music

It's a jungle of music streaming platforms out there, so it stands to reason that Amazon would have one among its massive kingdom of services. And while Amazon Music might not be top of mind among the Spotifys and Apple Musics of the world, you might be surprised by its 100-million-song library, high-resolution and spatial audio offerings, podcast library, Alexa voice control, and a pretty amiable user interface that makes finding music pretty easy.

Amazon Music's subscriptions range from free to its premium Music Unlimited tier, which can be added for $9 per month on top of a subscription to Amazon Prime. However, Amazon recently announced that, as of September 19, this price is going up to $10 per month (more on this below). But they all come with some quirks and features. We're going to break them all down for you to help you choose which, if any, Amazon Music plan is right for you.

Read more