As far as music charts go, Shazam‘s method of gathering data is certainly one of the most unique if not the most accurately representative of the world’s listening preferences at any given moment. Rather than measure how many purchases were made or the number of times the track was listened to in full, Shazam simply looks at how often people wanted to learn the name or artist of the song that they heard while out and about. This indicator is a seriously valuable tool for studying the real-life habits of music listeners around the world, as it compresses the data into simply, “this sounded good and I wanted to learn more about it.” What could be more accurate in predicting a song’s popularity?
This week, The Chainsmokers‘ single “Don’t Let Me Down” featuring Daya reached the #1 spot on Shazam’s U.S. charts. Topping work from Drake, Justin Timberlake, Calvin Harris, Desiigner and more of music’s heaviest acts, the track is officially dominating the country’s searches.
Even though its total number of “Shazams,” or searches, is less than some of the others on the list, we believe that the algorithm is meant to account for the frequency of searches on a weekly basis.
Listen to Shazam’s #1 searched-for track in the U.S. below.
Image: Rob Berry