Shazam Reviews 2011 and Predicts 2012 Artists to Watch

London – 15 December 2011 - Shazam®, the world’s leading mobile discovery company, released its annual list of artists they predict will break big in the coming year as well as a review of those who led the tag charts in 2011.  A new feature in this year’s announcement is an analysis of the combined role of television and discovery services like Shazam in driving digital music sales.

2012 Artists to Watch

Looking at the number of tags and other data indicating which acts are trending with fans, Shazam predicts that the artists expected to make headlines in 2012 are:

• Frank Ocean
• A$AP Rocky
• YG
• Kreayshawn
• Lana Del Rey
• Spector
• Azealia Banks
• Friends
• Michael Kiwanuka
• Excision

These acts will be releasing albums in the New Year.

Year in Review – Chart Toppers and Drivers

During 2011, Adele led Shazam’s list as the most-tagged artist of the year with a combined total of more than six million tags worldwide for her hits “Rolling in the Deep” and “Someone Like You.”  In addition to Adele, the ten most frequently tagged songs included:

1. “Rolling in the Deep”, Adele – 4.2 million tags
2. “Party Rock Anthem”, LMFAO – 3.4 million tags
3. “Give Me Everything”, Pitbull – 3.3 million tags
4. “Pumped Up Kicks”, Foster the People – 3.2 million tags
5. “Mr. Saxobeat”, Alexandra Stan – 2.7 million tags
6. “Someone Like You”, Adele – 2.7 million tags
7. “Just Can’t Get Enough”, The Black Eyed Peas – 2.4 million tags
8. “On the Floor”, Jennifer Lopez – 2.3 million tags
9. “Moves Like Jagger”, Maroon 5 – 2.0 million tags
10. “Hello”, Martin Solveig and Dragonette – 1.9 million tags

Outside of radio airplay, one of the biggest drivers of Shazam’s tag charts during 2011 was television programming, particularly in the US.  For example:

• “Entourage” breathed new life into Led Zepplin’s classic, “Going to California,” which was rarely tagged until it was used in the final episode in September when it was tagged almost 25,000 times in the week it aired.
• “Parenthood” promoted UK artist James Blake’s cover of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You.”
• Also, the Martin Solveig and Dragonette track called “Hello” was featured in a Trident Vitality gum commercial last February, climbed the Shazam weekly charts, then received increased radio airplay, and ultimately made Shazam’s 9^th most popular artist of the year with 1.9 million tags of his songs.

“The music industry continues to evolve as mobile technology has accelerated the pace of digital adoption and enables people to interact with music wherever they are,” said Will Mills, Shazam’s Director of Music and Content.  “People’s favorite sources for music discovery have evolved beyond radio and clubs into TV and advertising, driving awareness of new artists as well as purchases of tracks by long-established acts.”

This year Shazam reached another milestone with the release of the first Shazam-enabled music video. In conjunction with Universal Music Group and VEVO, people could use Shazam with Lil Wayne’s ‘How To Love (Shazam Version)’ video for a unique tag result, giving users the chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime VIP trip to see Lil’ Wayne in concert. The release of the Shazam-enabled video and promotion drove a 287% bump in total Lil Wayne tags post-launch. Similarly, Justin Bieber’s new holiday video, “All I Want for Christmas is You,” featuring Mariah Carey, is also Shazam-enabled giving users a unique chance to win exclusive Justin Bieber prizes including a signed guitar and clothing from the video.

Shazam Charts and the Music Industry

Shazam tag charts provide reliable data that lets the industry see which acts and tracks are popular with consumers.  The 2011 report includes annual charts for the world, Europe, UK and USA as well as sub-genre charts for indie and hip-hop which bring quantifiable data to a market which is difficult to track using traditional charts due to non-traditional distribution.  For instance, the up-and-coming artist YG made the underground hip-hop chart twice for tracks from his mix tape, “Just Re’d Up,” beating well-known artists like Eminem, Akon and Game.

For complete US, UK and world charts, as well as TV and Advertising charts, visit the Shazamers.com blog.  Additional information includes Shazam’s Subgenre charts for Hip Hop and Indie Alt.