We may be just a few days into 2025, but Apple thinks it can already tell which upcoming music artists are set to make a breakthrough this year. The company shared its predictions as the Shazam Fast Forward 2025.
Apple looked at the trending artists in the first five days of music Shazammed by users, and had its own music editors review them …
The company said the method has a proven track record, though it’s perhaps hard to separate cause from effect when Apple highlights a musician.
With more than 300 million global monthly users and over 100 billion global song recognitions since its launch, Shazam’s unique ability to accurately predict the next breaking artist is unparalleled and has become a reliable and invaluable tool for both artists and fans over the years.
Last year’s predictions list proved to be another great batch of talent, with two-thirds of the artists reaching Apple Music’s Daily Top 100 in 150 countries, and a third entering Shazam National charts in 46 countries. On average compared to the year prior, Shazam’s class of 2024 Predictions artists saw a +34% increase in Shazam song matches, a +146% increase in Apple Music streams, and a +269% increase in radio spins.
Apple shared the first 10 of 50 artists, with the first day focused on dance music.
Today, Shazam unveiled “Shazam Fast Forward 2025,” its revamped list of yearly predictions, spotlighting 50 artists that are perfectly poised to have a breakthrough year.
Starting today and continuing through Friday, Shazam will unveil 10 artists per day, broken down into broader genres spanning Dance; Latin; Alternative, Rock, and Country; Pop; and Hip-Hop and R&B. To discover each batch of daily predictions, music fans can now explore an all-new microsite to get to know these emerging artists, discover their bios, and access playlists, or check out Shazam’s curator page on Apple Music.
Apple says there are multiple indicators of success for each artist.
Each artist featured has shown early indicators of future growth, including early and consistent momentum in Shazam activity, as well as discovery trends in more than one country.
You can find the 10 dance artists below.
Prophecy
The Spanish DJ duo first gained traction on Shazam in May 2023, with early popularity in Romania and Argentina. Collaborations with David Guetta on “Kill The Vibe” (their top song on Shazam) and Tiësto on “My City” saw Prophecy enter charts in Denmark, Hungary, and Croatia. Their top countries for Shazam activity are the US, Germany, and Mexico. Prophecy have also reached Apple Music’s Top Dance Songs chart in more than 50 countries worldwide, including nine where they’ve reached the top 10.Khathapillar
The South African Amapiano DJ first appeared on Shazam’s radar in May 2024 in South Africa. His top track, “Diqabang,” saw him collaborating with Sol Phenduka, Smash SA, and Kamoh Xaba, and it would spend over five months on the South African Shazam chart in 2024.ALSO ASTIR
The North Macedonia Electronic artist first popped on Shazam in October 2022 in Greece. His top track, “Forget,” drove a peak in song recognitions for him in July 2024. His top countries for Shazam activity are the US, Germany, and Brazil.Joe Hunt
The British Garage DJ first gained traction on Shazam in August 2024 in New Zealand. His top track, “Up To No Good (Extended),” landed him on the Shazam charts for the first time, enjoying Shazam chart runs in New Zealand as well as his home country of Great Britain.Marasi
The Greek DJ first popped on Shazam in March 2023 in the United Arab Emirates. His top track “Opera” earned him a spot on the Greek Shazam chart, spending over 6 months on the chart and peaking at No. 64. His top countries for Shazam activity are his home country of Greece, followed by the US and France.Nu-La
The British dance singer-songwriter first appeared on Shazam’s radar in January 2023. Her top track on Shazam is a collaboration with British DJ CHANEY, “Out of My Depth (feat. Nu-La).”Quentro
The Turkish DJ first showed up on Shazam’s radar in June 2024 in Greece. As Quentro geared up to debut his top track “Perreo,” song recognitions for Quentro on Shazam hit its peak.TR3NACRIA
The Italian DJ trio first gained traction on Shazam in April 2023 in the Netherlands. The trio enjoyed massive chart success this year with their top song “La Foule (feat. StereoKilla) [Le Monde Mix]” spending more than four months on the French Shazam chart, peaking at No. 36 in March. Their tracks “Le Vent Nous Portera” and “Intro” also hit the French chart this year. Previously, TR3NACRIA spent more than 5 weeks on the Greek Shazam chart with their song “Sikulambele (feat. Lizwi)” in 2023.VXSION
The Brazilian House DJ first popped on Shazam in February 2023 in Romania. Their top song, “Amana” with Maz, spent more than seven months on the Greek Shazam chart this year, peaking at No. 35. Following the release of his remix of “Days Of The Week” by Flight Facilities, VXSION saw an uptick in song recognitions in July 2024.WITH U
The German Dance duo first gained traction on Shazam in April 2024 in Israel. Their top song, “Karibu,” spent nearly five months on the Italian Shazam chart, peaking at No. 33 in June 2024. July 2024 was one of the duo’s strongest months on Shazam, following the release of their track “Alive” with Albert Breaker and Mohalizer.
Image: Apple
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