‘Thrift Shop’ by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis is currently the most tagged track in the world! To celebrate this, we’ve teamed up with the pair to offer Shazam users the chance to win some awesome prize packs including a signed copy of their album ‘The Heist’ and much more.
All you need to do is tag ‘Thrift Shop’ and follow the on screen instructions (You’ll need the latest version of Shazam on iPhone or Android, so don’t forget to update your app).
Look out for more giveaways and extra content into 2013, as we continue Shazam Spotlight; the best place to experience more from your favourite artists. Check out the amazing video below and get tagging!
Shazam’s tagging data accurately predicted the majority of winners at last night’s Grammys ceremony, including a whopping three of the four top awards, three of the five genre performance categories and four of the seven best songs by genre!
The science behind the Shazam app tracked the nominated tracks during the voting period, giving an amazing insight into how popular these songs were and letting Shazam predict who the winners would be. The results show that in the majority of cases, the songs that were most tagged with Shazam in each award category correlated with those that took home a Grammy.
Check out the interesting stats below, as revealed by Shazam’s data; Read more…
Out of all the rock bands from the early 90’s, few seemed likely to reform as Dinosaur Jr. After original member – and Sebadoh frontman – Lou Barlow was kicked out of the band in 1989, Dinosaur Jr released a number of albums through the 90’s before disbanding in 1997. After years of bitter and public swipes at each other, in 2005 original members J Mascis, Barlow and drummer Murph reunited for a tour and have been working together since; releasing three albums ‘Beyond’ (2007), ‘Farm’ (2009) and last year’s ‘I Bet On Sky’.
Their latest album is a hook laden collection of tracks that showcase a slightly calmer side to Dinosaur Jr, which is a natural progression for a band that originally got together in the mid eighties. Songs such as ‘Watch The Corners’ easily rank alongside the finest moments in their back catalogue and the rambunctious ‘Pierce The Morning Rain’ shows they can still show the garage rock kids of 2013 how it’s done.
We spoke to bassist Lou in the middle of their UK tour about the reformation, plans for a new album and their thoughts on consuming music through streaming.
This month’s Shazam Spotlight falls on A$AP Rocky, who is set to launch his eagerly awaited album ‘Long.Live.A$AP’ on 13th January 2013 and is set to be an early contender for album of the year. For a free download of “Purple Swag Remix” featuring Bun B, Paul Wall and Killa Kyleon just Shazam his latest track “F**kin’ Problem” and click the link to enter your email, you will then be sent the track directly to your inbox.
Look out for more extra content into 2013, as we continue Shazam Spotlight; the best place to experience more from your favourite artists.
This week world renowned Indian musician Ravi Shankar passed away aged 92, after failing to recover from heart surgery in San Diego. Shankar rose to prominence in the 60′s, after influencing, then forging a friendship, with The Beatles. This brought him widespread acclaim, touring the world from the 70’s onwards, more recently with his sitar protégé daughter Anoushka. He is also survived by another daughter, Norah Jones who released a brief statement this week;
“My dad’s music touched millions of people. He will be greatly missed by me and music lovers everywhere,”
In 1999 Shankar received the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour. Several high profile musicians flocked to Twitter to share the sadness at the news of his death, including Terry Gilliam, kd Lang and George Martin’s son, Giles.
Shankar will posthumously receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at next year’s Grammy’s.
Continuing our Shazam Spotlight series, this month we’re giving you the chance to claim a free track from The Lumineers. Their track ‘Ho Hey’ has been seeing many of you reach for your tagging fingers lately and now we’re happy to announce they are our latest Shazam Spotlight artist. All you need to do is tag ‘Ho Hey’ and follow the instructions to receive a free live version of their awesome track ‘Flapper Girl’. (You’ll need the latest version of Shazam on iPhone or Android, so don’t forget to update your app.)
Keep an eye out for more extra content over the next few months, as we continue Shazam Spotlight; the best place to experience more from your favourite artists.
Last week we caught up with Of Monsters & Men, who have been one of the year’s biggest success stories. After forming just two years ago, the Icelandic sextet won their local battle of the bands contest and have had a steady rise to global fame since. Their debut single ‘Little Talks’ has sold a million copies in the US alone, as well as hitting the top 5 in over five countries.
The band have also announced a string of – now sold out – shows across the US later this year, as well as selling out three nights in London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Not bad for a band still only touring their first album. We spoke to bassist Kiddi about their forthcoming shows, being compared to Arcade Fire and when they plan to fit in recording their next album. Read more…
While the name Ice-T will be familiar to most, you might not be aware that the influential rap star is now also an influential film director. After debuting to wide critical acclaim at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, his documentary ‘Something from Nothing: The Art Of Rap’ is now available on DVD and download.
The film focuses on the all conquering modern dominance of hip hop and gets the thoughts of some of the genres biggest names. Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre, Chuck D, Q-Tip, Eminem, Nas and Ice Cube are just some of the names in a huge, stellar supporting cast with Ice T guiding us through a multitude of legendary interviews focusing on what makes rap so special. In Ice-T’s own words “I called my friends up and asked if they’d be in my movie: ‘I’m not gonna ask you about the money, the cars, the jewellery, the beef. I just wanna ask you about the craft.’ It was a labor of love.”
We have 5 copies of the film to give away, to be in with a chance simply answer the below question;
Which of these is not an album by Public Enemy?
A) Yo! Bum Rush The Show
B) Illmatic
C) Fear Of A Black Planet
Please send your answer, name and contact details to competition@shazamteam.com . Please not these are Region 1 (USA) DVD’s.
Terms And Conditions: 1. Closing date for the competition is 12.00 GMT 12 Oct 2012. Any entries after this point will be void. 2. The winners will be notified by email on 15th Oct 2012. 2 Each winner will win 1 copy of the ‘Something from Nothing: The Art Of Rap’ DVD. 4. There’s no cash alternative to the prize. 5. The decision of Shazam Entertainment is final. 6. Employees of Shazam Entertainment are not eligible to enter this competition. 7. Prizes are non-exchangeable.
Next week UK rockers Lower Than Atlantis return with their new album ‘Changing Tune’, keeping their tally to an impressive one album a year since 2010’s debut ‘Far Q’. The band will support the release with an extensive UK tour, also playing a handful of dates across Europe in November. The latest album marks their first with Island Records and to celebrate the release, they’re giving away a free download of ‘Go On Strike’.
To claim the track, simply head here. For the uninitiated, check out the video for ‘Normally Strange’ below.
While Californian residents Evaline might not be the biggest football fans, they are undoubtedly keeping a close eye on the current Euro 2012 tournament after their track ‘There There’ was selected OFFICIAL soundtrack to UEFA’s ‘Swap your Jersey – show Respect’ campaign for the tournament.
By linking respect with swapping shirts, European football’s governing body hopes to make a connection with players and fans alike, encouraging everyone to exchange jerseys as a sign of respect for each other. The TV spot features a group of well known European football personalities who are ambassadors for the campaign (including Peter Schmiechel, Clarence Seedorf and the referee Pierluigi Collina). The advert has been broadcast multiple times daily on each TV network showing the EUROs as well as constantly at the stadiums of each game and at all Fanzones in the host cities in Poland and Ukraine.
It’s a great coup for the merging rock outfit, who released their debut album ‘Woven Material’ last year. To listen to the full track and find out more about the band, head to their official website.
