Ice Spice, Natori Lead Shazam’s 10 Artists to Watch in 2023
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New year, new Shazam predictions. Like its previous lists, the song-identifying app crowned five artists poised for a global breakthrough in 2023 and, for the first time, also spotlighted five additional artists who are gaining ground regionally based on Shazam’s “uniquely predictive data and algorithms,” and supplementary insight from its parent company Apple Music’s global editorial team.
At the top of 2022, the app correctly predicted the growing success of global acts such as Afrobeats singer Ayra Starr — who appeared on Barack Obama‘s annual end-of-the-year playlist — and Mexican-American crooner Danny Lux, a leader of the budding sierreño genre.
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Specific data from the app on each artist appears below alongside personal quotes from the selections. Shazam has also compiled the list, with additional predictions, via playlist — which you can check out here.
Five artists with global breakthrough potential, per Shazam:
Ice Spice
Origin: USA
Genre: Pop, Rap/Hip Hop
First Shazam: Hollywood, USA (6 Mar 2021)
Since it dropped in August, Ice Spice’s breakout hit “Munch (Feeling You)” has been a mainstay on Shazam’s Hip-Hop/Rap chart, peaking at No. 11.
“Shazam has always been so useful for me whenever I needed to find the title of a song playing,” Ice Spice tells Apple Music. “I’m happy that it exists!”
Rosa Linn
Origin: Armenia
Genre: Indie Pop, Folk Pop, Pop
First Shazam: Payyannur, India (10 Sep 2021)
With “Snap” the Armenian Eurovision entrant delivered one of the 100 most Shazamed songs of 2022, a devastating, folk-informed English-language breakup tune that first found an audience on TikTok, which led to Shazams peaking in October, months after the competition. It had eight Shazam No.1’s across Europe and Asia.
“It’s very cool to me that people from all around the world can discover my music through [Shazam],” Rosa Linn tells Apple Music. “They can hear the song, like it, and instantly find out that it’s me who is singing it. I gain fans and listeners and it directly impacts streaming.”
charlieonnafriday
Origin: USA
Genre: Hip Hop/Rap
First Shazam: Kirkland, USA (26 Aug 2020)
“Enough,” an inspiring pop-rap hybrid, made a mark on Shazam charts in 40 countries.
“I’ve used Shazam as a fan first for as long as I can remember,” charlieonnafriday tells Apple Music. “It was a really exciting and full-circle moment for me when I realized my fans would be using Shazam to listen to my music in the same way I did, and still do, for my favorite artists.”
Young Miko
Origin: Puerto Rico
Genre: Latin Urban
First Shazam: San Juan, Puerto Rico (16 July 2021)
“Riri” has been Young Miko’s most-Shazamed song to date, resulting in her all-time Shazams peaking in September.
“Shazam, in my opinion, is one of the best music platforms,” Young Miko says. “Being able to discover songs and identify a sound you like, to me, is awesome. Thanks to Shazam I’ve had a lot of people discover my music and know they’re gonna keep coming.”
Benson Boone
Origin: USA
Genre: Pop
First Shazam: San Jose, USA (15 Oct 2021)
Benson Boone made his debut on the Shazam global chart over the past year with two songs entering the top 200, each getting more than one million Shazams: “Ghost Town” and “In The Stars.”
“My manager will always send me screenshots of trending Shazam songs,” Benson Boone tells Apple Music. “When I see my name high up on that list it blows my mind to know people are wanting to know what my songs are!”
Five artists gaining popularity regionally, per Shazam:
Carterefe
Origin: Nigeria
Genre: Worldwide, Afro-Beat
First Shazam: Enugu, Nigeria (29 July 2022)
Carterefe’s first single charted on 13 different national Shazam charts, including No. 1’s in Nigeria, Cameroon and Ghana.
“Shazam basically aided in boosting my music career to this point,” Carterefe told Apple Music. “Having the sound was one step, but Shazam made it easier to connect me as an artist to new listeners who may not have known me prior to hearing the sound somewhere and got to Shazam it. In a click the new user is straight on any of my digital platforms to listen to what I have, it’s really been impactful and I really want to say I’m personally appreciative of it, for what it’s done for my music career and other sounds basically.”
Adé
Origin: France
Genre: French Pop
First Shazam: Port Louis, Mauritius (20 Nov 2020)
“Tout savoir” was Adé’s first song to surpass half a million Shazams. It has been on the Shazam chart in France every day since the week of release; over 200 consecutive days.
“Shazam is a very powerful tool for a new artist because it doesn’t need promotion,” Adé told Apple Music. “It’s just a bridge between music and listeners. I use it a lot in my everyday life and I build playlists with it.”
Munic HB
Origin: Spain
Genre: Hip Hop/Rap, Trap
First Shazam: Madrid, Spain (1 Dec 2020)
“Pico y Pala” charted on Shazam in nine countries across Spain and Latin America this past year.
“Shazam has undoubtedly helped me a lot in my career,” Munic HB told Apple Music. “Especially in a case like mine, when a song hits very hard globally and you see in the app all these places where you think they didn’t know you at all, and someone is playing your song and someone else is drawn by it and Shazams it, it’s like the most organic thing that can happen to your music. And the other way around, it’s the same when I’m at a club or event and something playing catches my attention, I can connect with that artist.”
natori
Origin: Japan
Genre: J-Pop
First Shazam: Tokyo, Japan (7 Sep 2022)
“Overdose” by Natori was the most-Shazamed debut single within J-Pop over the last year.
“I believe Shazam is an important gateway for my music to be discovered, especially in this busy lifestyle we live in,” natori told Apple Music.
Keityn
Origin: Colombia
Genre: Latin, Latin Urban
First Shazam: Bogota, Colombia (28 Oct 2021)
Keityn’s most Shazamed song “El Egoísmo”, with Mike Bahía and DEKKO, spent two weeks on Shazam’s Peru Discovery Top 10 and a month on the full national top 200 chart.
“Shazam has been a great help because there are songs that we’ve suddenly heard on the streets, or somewhere else, and we don’t dare ask what song it is,” Keityn told Apple Music. “But if we have a chance, we just need to open [Shazam] and it will tell us the name [of the song]. And I think this has been amazing because no songs can go unnoticed.”
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