With a verified Shazam artist profile, you can update your artist image, share updates and get access to useful insights and statistics. Shazam verification is free and super easy. Let’s walk through the steps.
Shazam is an app which makes it possible to detect music playing in commercials, stores, on the radio, live at festivals or any other place. Simply open the app and press the big blue button. After a few seconds, Shazam will tell you what the artist and title of the song is. It also presents you with links to stores like Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal where you can download or stream the music yourself.
Upload your music to Shazam
As an artist or band it’s very important for your own music to be detectable via Shazam. You never know where your music might end up. Maybe someone uses your track in a YouTube video without credit. Or maybe it’s played on the radio with millions of listeners. Shazam provides those listeners a lifeline back to the original track.
It’s not possible to earn money with Shazam, so a detection of your music won’t bring in any royalties directly. Think of it more as a promotion platform which links to sources where you do earn money, like Spotify and Apple Music.
Shazam currently has about 120 million active users which lead to 400,000 daily downloads on the linked platforms. This proves that detections really lead to purchases! When you distribute your music via Indepentia, Shazam is always included by default. Other distributors might charge a fee depending on their offering.
As soon as your music is distributed and processed, Shazam automatically creates an artist profile for you as an artist or band, which includes your entire (distributed) discography and a profile image. Your music is now detectable by everyone anywhere and attached to this artist profile.
Shazam artist profile features
It’s a good idea to verify the Shazam artist profile that has been created. It gives you more control about what people see when they detect your music. With a verified artist profile you can:
- Update your artist profile info and image
- Share short updates like new release announcements, information about shows and music videos
- Display your own Shazams (music you have detected yourself) to promote other artists
Just like with spotify for artists, you can also view extensive stats and metrics about detections and your artist profile. Metrics include:
- Gender and age of your listeners
- Countries and regions (city-level)
- Follower growth over time
- View/interaction stats of shared posts on Shazam
These metrics can help you make decisions about which tracks to promote, where to go on tour or how to target your ads on other platforms. For example: you could see that your music is popular under Males aged 21-28 in Stockholm, Sweden. Then it might be a good idea to book a show there and target that age group for promotion on Facebook.
Good to know: Shazam features change regularly, check out this Apple support document for the most recent info.
Shazam verification
Verifying your Shazam artist profile and getting access to all these features is pretty easy. Since Shazam was acquired by Apple in 2018, the verification process is attached to Apple Music for Artists.
Is your music already online in stores? Then follow this link, click ‘Sign up’ and follow the steps. After setting up your Apple Music for Artists profile, you will have access to all features. You can also check out this overview of the current features by Apple.
Did you not upload your music to Shazam yet? Create a free account today and upload unlimited music for detection.
Feel free to reach out if you need any help with uploading your music, passing Shazam verification or if you have any other questions about music distribution.