In the jam-packed landscape of audio streaming services releasing various twists on their end-of-year “most streamed” lists, Apple has shrewdly organized one of its own for 2023 by a more telling metric — which songs from the past year most often led users to reach for their phones and ask “Who sings this?” as they patiently waited for Shazam to answer.
Apple, which bought the game changer music identification app in 2018, uses its technology every time you ask Siri about the details of a song playing in the vicinity. So who comes in at number one on the list? Nigerian breakout star Rema for his hit single “Calm Down,” a track that for many people was the first song they heard from the artist (hence the need to use Shazam).
That was followed by Miley Cyrus‘ Flowers from her Endless Summer Vacation Album. Coming in third was Bloody Mary by Lady Gaga from her defining album Born This Way.
For those scratching their heads wondering why an older Lady Gaga song needed to be Shazamed so frequently this year, a couple other popular apps hold the key — Bloody Mary became a popular viral option on TikTok to choreograph videos to for users doing their take on the Wednesday dance (which itself owes its popularity to the success of Netflix’s Wednesday).
I could go back even further and explain the history of the Wednesday character from the various iterations of the Addams Family franchise, but you get the idea — nothing is new under the sun, and the Bloody Mary song was exposed to a younger, expanded audience.
There are lots of other fun entries on Apple Music’s Most Shazamed list for 2023, so check it out for yourselves — and congrats to Rema and his “Calm Down” for topping the list this year.
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