Have you ever heard a song that you didn’t know the name of? If so, you just pull out your Iphone and ask Siri, “hey Siri, what is this song?” and boom, you know the song within 15 seconds. Apple did not invent this software; it was created by a guy named Chris Barton. Chris Barton studied at the UC Berkeley. He created the software called Shazam. If you are not already familiar with Shazam, it is a software that identifies what you’re hearing on the radio, in a store, on your device, or anywhere else you hear recorded music. It has become such a useful and revolutionizing tool, hence why Apple purchased it to be used as one of Siri’s features.
Barton had the idea of Shazam long before its time. While he was in college, he thought of some kind of software that could identify music through sound recognition. The fact that he came up with and began the process of launching Shazam in college, makes him a young entrepreneur despite the fact that he is now 47. Although Barton had the idea, he did not have the tech mind to construct what needed to be constructed. So, he searched for a co-founder that could assist him in that field. He found Avery Wang, who completed his PhD in music-related Digital Signal Processing within the Electrical Engineering Department at MIT. From there, the rest was history and Chris Barton’s idea from back in college was formed into the phenomenon on Shazam today!
Interesting post! I think that apple phones really benefit from this function. Not only does the app solve the problem not knowing a song but it also saves time looking up the song. I think part of its success is that is also gives more accurate answers and can be used easily while driving.
This is a super interesting story. I love shazam and use it often, but I have yet to hear the story behind it. I love how even though Chris knew the tech side was not his forte, he found someone who did know tech and was able to launch his idea!
I really enjoyed reading about your post and did not know that Apple wasn’t the one who invented that! An important thing Barton did was look for help in his business. When he realized he didn’t have the mind to construct what he wanted to, he reached out and marketed himself in order to find the right person that would make his business takeoff. Barton is an example of why you should take action with an idea you have, and not just keep it to yourself for years and years.
This is an interesting thing to be able to read about something like this not made by apple. Shazam is an interesting creation that was able to be used by apple or certain parts at least were used for iphones, ipads, and apple computers to make it easier for people to use their devices.
This is a unique innovation that Barton created. I think we all share the common experience of hearing a song we like but cannot identify. He was able to take a common problem and solve it with software. Good job on the article,
Interesting Article! I didn’t know the origins of that feature before, but it’s neat to know where that comes from.
I didn’t realize the construction of Shazam and how it actually came to be. I love the app and use it all the time. I am absolutely terrible at remembering names of songs so it is definitely useful for me. I dance all the time and constantly need to find songs to use. Usually, I find songs to use for dance in the most random places so this app has made it so easy to figure out these songs and add them to my list.