Shazamers' Blog

Since she was announced as Glastonbury’s main stage headliner it’s been assumed Beyoncé will need a few tricks up her sleeve to pull off a successful show – after all, the crowd of Glasto’s main stage are stereotypically more used to the grunt of beardy guitar bands than wailing divas.  With this in mind, ‘Run The World (Girls)’ could well have been made with the specific aim of getting a huge festival crowd on their feet.

Stealing the backing from Major Lazer’s ‘Pon De Floor’ – a dance track that’s enjoyed huge crossover success with both urban and electro crowds – ‘Run The World (Girls)’ is a whirring ball of wonky energy guaranteed to stand out in amongst Beyoncé’s usually smooth R&B stylings. The producer behind the track is in fact Afrojack: a hugely popular dance DJ who has already worked his magic with Black Eyed Peas and knows a thing or two about banging out festival tents. Strikingly,  ‘Run The World (Girls)’ seems to be quite a departure for the former Destiny’s Child singer and could signal a move into more OTT club based sounds. A cameo performance from her husband, Jay-Z, will likely get the crowds going more – but this single is also likely to be one of the highlights from B’s Pyramid stage performance.

Beyoncé’s fourth studio album is due for release in June.

To check the new single click here

Stephen Titmus Tag Of The Day Beyoncé, Diplo, Jay-Z, major lazer, Switch

As the marriage of Kate and Wills brings out the closet royalist in most of the English speaking world, today seemed the perfect day to showcase our latest Shazam Session: this time from Roadrunner Records signings, Royal Republic.   

Whilst over in the UK for the first time the band managed a tour and also found time to stop off and record a track for us, which was their first ever live session in the Britain.

At first appearances the band seem to be from the US, speaking with heavy American accents, but Royal Republic were actually formed in Malmö, Sweden in 2007  – the accents come from the movies. Drummer Per explained to us that the choice to sing in English was an active one, “We want to communicate internationally, singing in our own language won’t achieve that.” He then went on to say they always speak in English out on the road as their crew is German.

Watching the session its clear that no other band have had such fun doing a session, or looked quite so good whilst at it, as these four guys.

To purchase the new debut album “We Are the Royal” click here.

Hazel Savage Shazam Sessions Royal Republic

Some great news for all our Android fans! As of today there’s no need to miss a music moment – Shazam a track wherever you are – as our friends at eBay are sponsoring our Free App.  This update means all new and existing Shazamers get free unlimited tagging until January 1, 2012.

Plus “Shazam Friends” is out now on Android! Discover and share new music with your Facebook friends. You’ll see a real-time view of your friends’ tags, giving you a steam of new music to check out for yourself!

• Browse all your friends’ tags –  buy the track, watch music videos, read reviews, access biographies and get artist tour info
• See all recent tags from a particular friend in one place
• Add friends tags to your Shazam history and playlist
• Post tags to Facebook and Twitter – you and your friends can listen and comment
• Invite friends to use Shazam Friends

Check out our cool new Android video on YouTube  – and see Shazam Friends and other great features in action!

Update the latest versions of Shazam Free or Encore on Android Market and see for yourself!

LeeMc News

A shock entry at number one as the previously unheard of Templecloud storm to the number one spot in the Shazam New Release Chart UK, thanks largely to their inclusion in the latest KFC ad (above).

Stephen Titmus Shazam New Release Chart UK Templecloud

Kelly Rowland and Weezy grab the top spot in the Shazam New Release Chart USA.

Stephen Titmus Shazam New Release Chart USA Kelly Rowland, Lil Wayne

Here’s one for all our Shazamers in the US and Canada*!  If you’re into Selena Gomez & The Scene we’re giving you an awesome opportunity to meet your idol. Selena kicks off her first “We Own The Night” headline tour on July 28^th – and this is your chance to talk to her and see her live in concert with our great new Golden Tag Promo!

To enter all you need to do is:

1. Shazam Selena’s new hit single “Who Says”
2. Tap the Golden Tag promo banner on the Tag Result

The more you Shazam Selena – the greater your chance of winning!

Our Golden Tag Promo starts today and runs till June 15^th.  As well as the Grand Prize of meeting Selena, we’ll also be giving five lucky Shazamers an exclusive prize pack of the singing sensation’s merchandise.

If you have an iPhone, iPod touch or Android phone simply Shazam “Who Says” to enter. Plus you can follow the Golden Tag promo on Shazam and Selena Gomez Facebook pages!

Happy Shazaming!

*Promotion open to legal residents of Canada (excluding the province of Quebec)

LeeMc News

The Royal Wedding has been pretty much inescapable. Unless you’ve been held in a state of cryogenic limbo you wouldn’t have failed to notice that almost every newsstand adorns the faces of Kate Middleton and Prince William – the future king of England who’s due to tie the knot this Friday. The British government has even set aside a national holiday for the event and encouraged towns to organise street parties to celebrate. Sales of Union Jack bunting, not to mention tacky ‘Wills and Kate’ memorabilia, have sky rocketed.

With the big day closing in Shazam has put together a playlist of tracks that should – in the ideal world – get an airing at the post marriage party.

 Billy Idol – White Wedding

An obvious choice, but a worthy one none the less…  Billy Idol’s new-wave hit may be as ‘80’s as ZX-spectrum, but it still sounds great. Idol’s cameo appearance in ‘The Wedding Singer’, alongside Adam Sandler, gives him a double-whammy of wedding related trivia.     
Read more…

Stephen Titmus Shazam's 5 Minute Guide To... Billy Idol, David Bowie, Gold Panda, Jagged Edge, Prince, Run-D.M.C., Snoop Dogg

As festival season steadily creeps up on us, our eyes can’t help venture to early September and Bestival. Taking place on the picturesque Isle Of Wight on September 8^th- 11^th, organiser Rob Da Bank has pulled in some stellar acts. Indie Goth legends The Cure, arena conquering dance lords Pendulum and Primal Scream will all entertain the masses; while Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson, PJ Harvey and DJ Shadow will also deliver eagerly anticipated performances. But those acts are merely the tip of a huge bill that encompasses hundreds of bands and DJ’s across the weekend.

This year will see Bestival break new ground, by adding 3D coverage of the event. Bestival 3D TV will air with Sky this September, giving  people at home a chance to relive the finest musical moments at home - in 3D! For those who hate the thought of camping, warm beers and sunburned necks it’s arguably the closest you can come to recreating the festival experience at home. Two hours of live 3D TV will be broadcast each day from Friday to Sunday, with a full round up after the weekend.

However the pull of 3D coverage won’t be strong enough to lure away punters from the real thing. With around 60,000 eager revelers expected to attended, Bestival 2011 will undoubtedly adhere to the high standards set by last year’s event. Tickets are currently available, but are likely to be snapped up over the coming months. For full info and line up details, head here.

Jon Davies Gigs/ Events Bestival

New Boyz came to fame in the late ‘00’s through the California based ‘jerkin’ scene – a dance and rap movement based on locked dance moves and tight trousers. Their debut single ‘You’re A Jerk’ capitalised on the hype for all things ‘jerk’, becoming a viral hit and climbing to number 24 on the Hot 100. To many people’s surprise they proved they weren’t a one hit wonder when their follow-up single went two places higher. However, there was a definite danger that the duo would fade out as quickly as the flavour of the month dance craze inevitably would. So, in an inspired move, the boys teamed up with fellow Californians The Cataracs and long-time Cataracs contributor, singer Dev. The Cataracs had just exploded onto the scene by providing the muscle behind the Far East Movement’s ‘Like A G6′; a track which was almost inescapable through most of 2010. ‘Back Seat’ is consequently a lot more poppy than previous New Boyz output but the combination works well with Dev adding some chorus frills and the Boyz adapting to the new world of beefy electro with ease. Taken from their second album ‘Too Cool To Care’, the track has already become the Boyz’ third top forty hit in the USA. It might not be groundbreaking, but the track’s electro grooves seem to be bang on trend with the current wave of all conquering electro-rap.

Check the video here.

Martin Gadgil Tag Of The Day Dev, Far East Movement, New Boyz

It would be no exaggeration to say the Mercury Music Prize is a big deal in the UK. The award, which is designed to honor groundbreaking British musicians with a huge cheque and reams of press exposure, has now been going for 18 years. Former winners include influential and genre defining acts like Dizzee Rascal, Pulp, Roni Size, Franz Ferdinand and Arctic Monkeys. (Some former winners, such as Speech Debelle and Talvin Singh, faded into obscurity after their win – but we won’t mention them.) To go with The Mercury Music Prize’s taste-making reputation, the company behind the award has now launched ‘Mercury Prize Sessions’: a series of live performances designed to showcase the best the UK music biz has to offer. Situated in the Hospital Club, a gated community for London’s media elite, past performers have so far included James Blake, Everything Everything and Magnetic Man – all of which have been tipped for success at this year’s awards ceremony

The latest show saw Jamie Woon and Gruff Rhys take to the stage. First on was Woon, a much hyped blue-eyed soul singer from London whose work has been embraced by luminaries like the BBC and dubstep enigma Burial. On record Woon’s music falls loosely into the amorphous genre of post-dubstep with skittering electronic beats and forlorn melodies the order of the day. In person, however, his music takes on a much more funky lilt. Stevie Wonder-esque synth bass and live drumming melded with Jamie’s sampler delivered electronics to create a sound that owes as much to disco as it does to dingy club music. The groovy pop of ‘Lady Luck’ (see above) even got a cynical looking bunch of middle aged music industry types grooving away at the back. Central to the performance was Woon’s voice; emotive and technically faultless, his vocals were special in a way that more than made up for the singer’s muted stage presence. With an already acclaimed album hitting the shelves this week, it would seem that Jamie Woon has a bright future ahead of him.
Read more…

Stephen Titmus Gigs/ Events Gruff Rhys, Jamie Woon