It started as a semi-ironic app name, but has now entered the popular lexicon. Whenever we hear a new track playing out in public that makes our collective ears prick up, the option to 'just Shazam it' and discover that song's name and who made it, remains one of the 21st century's coolest innovations. And, as Shazam's user-base increases, all that data is getting logged. Shazam, then, has compiled trends based on this data (alongside editorial input) to spotlight what it predicts will be the biggest names in music in 2025.
But does this stand to reason? Can we really infer that the tracks that are being tagged on people's phones are safe bets to be the same figures that will be ascending the streaming charts over the coming months? After all, surely some of us Shazam stuff that we have no intention of listening to on a long-term basis…
Shazam's Fast Forward 2025 has collated 50 artists across five genre groupings that its data (and experts) indicates are set to go big over the coming year. The genres span dance music, latin, country/rock, pop and hip-hop/R&B.
In the dance camp, Shazam points to speed garage veteran Joe Hunt, Greek DJ and producer Marasi and the UK's Nu-La, alongside Brazillian house rising star VXSION
Meanwhile, the latin selections include artists such as Uruguayan rapper Knack, Spain's Q2 and Mexican balladeer Daren. Country/rock top picks span US TikTok star Adrien Nunez, Irish punk rockers Gurriers and the electronic/garage rock-melding Junior Varsity. At time of writing, Shazam's picks for pop and hip-hop/R&B have yet to be revealed.
So, how are these predictions actually calculated? Shazam say that the data is based on the number of 'Shazams' the artists have had, and some editorial curation of the results.
This isn't the first time that Shazam have revealed their selections for the year's next crop of stars. And, last year's Fast Forward selections saw the artists' respective Shazam tags grow by 34%, and Apple Music streams exceed 146%.
Just being featured in this list is, in itself, something of a self-fulfilling prophecy, with many new listeners inevitably checking out what others have been Shazamming and articles like the one you're reading now further spreading awareness of Shazam's choices.
But, a whole raft of hotly-tipped music from a globe-spanning plethora of artists is no bad thing in our book. Thankfully, Shazam has made playlists of its selections (to date) for us.
To read more, and check out Shazam's upcoming daily drops of its highlighted artists, head over to its Fast Forward 2025 hub.
