Music is such a central part of our lives and our memories. Certain songs bring you back to that meaningful moment in time, where you danced with friends or hung out with your crush. Music is the soundtrack to our lives.
I had a love for music from a young age, because I was exposed to a variety of genres from around the world. My father had quite the collection of record’s and 8-tracks that he would play almost regularly with the speakers cranked all the way up. The 80s had some incredible music from the early days of hip hop to the big hair rock bands, even a lot of the cheesy pop music was vibrant and fun. I watched about 3 hours of MTV a day (back when it only played music videos) and wouldn’t leave the house without my state-of-the art Walkman. When I was home, my boombox either had the radio on or I was jamming to Guns N' Roses, Public Enemy, Metallica and Ice Cube.
Mixtape Music Discovery
I spent so much time listening to the radio that I started to compile mixtapes from the latest music for myself and my friends. Every once in a while, the DJ would talk over the last 10 seconds of a song, which would ruin my clean recording, so I’d have to wait until the track played again to re-record it. I had different mixtapes for each of my friends with their genre of choice written on the cassette along with the year the tape was recorded. It was my way of showing appreciation and capturing some memories. I loved doing this, because I loved discovering new music and being the first to share it with my friends.
In the 90s, Europe was often used as the test market for music before it made its way to America. During long vacations in Greece, I would write down all the music that I listened to and then come back with 2-3 pages (front and back) of new songs. These songs were the playlists of my summers with cousins and friends. Spending an entire summer with people that you love in the Mediterranean is such a cool thing to experience as a teenager. You better believe I have a playlist for all of those trips, as well as all my travel destinations from my 20s.
What Kind of Sorcery Are They Using In This App?!
I’ll never forget the first time I saw someone use Shazam. I was at a bar in Boston with coworkers and one of them was holding their phone close to a wall-mounted speaker. After jokingly asking her if she was ok, I asked what the heck she was holding her phone up to the speaker. She turns to me and says, “I’m Shazam-ing this song”. I looked at her puzzled and she showed me the app. She explained that it can give you the name and artist of the songs by listening to the music. I didn’t believe it, but sure enough, she showed me the info for the song that she had just Shazam’ed and then used it again on the next track that played. My mind was blown that tech like this existed with an algorithm to discover new music.
I’ve had Shazam installed for over 13 years and have 417 songs Shazam’ed to date. Over those years the app has more or less stayed the same with some modifications and integrations like Spotify. This feature has been extremely handy for me as it's stored in my go-to app for music and podcasts. That's what's exceptional about Shazam in that it was way ahead of its time. Fun fact, it was one of the first apps in Apple's App Store. Their product development team has mostly had to focus on optimizing the product, collecting more digital fingerprints of songs for their database and making modifications around the edges without needing any type of massive overhaul. It all paid off for the startup, when Apple acquired them in 2018 for a jaw-dropping $400 million.
My days of mixtapes are long-gone, as my playlists on Spotify have taken their place. I still carefully curate and order my tracks and have a playlist for all the cool moments in my life. In a way, Shazam replaced what the radio and MTV were for me, when it came to discovering new music, but way more convenient. If I'm ever hastily fumbling for my phone, chances are that I'm firing up Shazam to recognize a new song for me. Shoutout to the brilliant folks at Shazam for creating one of my favorite apps of all time. I owe you a mixtape of my first 16 tracks.
