Shazam, the music discovery and identification app owned by Apple, today shared a Shazam Predictions 2021 playlist that's available on Apple Music. The playlist features a list of 50 songs from up-and-coming artists that Shazam believes are "poised to make a splash."
The data was calculated using Shazam's predictive algorithms, with the 50 tracks hand-selected from Apple Music's global editorial team. The songs all show early and consistent momentum in Shazam activity along with discovery in more than one country, which Shazam says are early indicators of future growth.
Of the 50 new songs in the playlist, Apple Music chose five artists to spotlight as those to watch out for in 2021 and beyond.
- Masked Wolf - A hip-hop artist from Sydney. His song "Astronaut in the Ocean" has reached the overall Apple Music top 10 in five territories.
- BLACKSTARKIDS - A trio from Kansas City that started trending on Shazam in September 2020. Their songs mix indie and hip-hop with contemporary lyrics and analogue pop music.
- Serena Isioma - Nigerian-American singer-songwriter Serena Isioma mixes funk, indie, pop, and R&B, and her song "King" has been featured on Apple Music's New Music Daily playlist.
- Tai Verdes - Indie pop artist Tai Verdes gained momentum on Shazam in July 2020. His single "Stuck in the Middle" is featured on the Alt Pop and ALT CTRL playlists on Apple Music.
- LB Spiffy - Teenage Toronto rapper LB Spiffy has been an emerging artist on Shazam since 2017. His song "Again" has been featured on Apple Music playlists like Rap Life and Today's Hits.
The full Shazam 2021 predictions playlist can be listened to on Apple Music. For those unfamiliar with Shazam, it is an app that iPhone owners can use to identify songs that are playing in movies, on the radio, and elsewhere. Apple purchased Shazam in 2018, and the song identifying functionality has been built into the Siri feature on iPhones for years.
Shazam has in past years been able to identify emerging artists prior to when their music takes off. Olivia Rodrigo, who hit number one on the Apple Music Daily Top 100 Global charts with "drivers license," was picked up by Shazam more than a year ago. Billie Eilish, who soared to popularity in 2019 and 2020, was on Shazam's emerging artist lists in 2015.
