Shazam Announces 2013 Music Predictions

London - 30 November 2012 - Shazam®, the world's leading media engagement company, today released its predictions of the artists it thinks will break big during 2013, with French Montana, Bei Maejor and Aluna George leading the list.  It also listed the most-tagged songs of 2012, including Gotye's "Somebody I Used to Know" and "We Are Young" by Fun., which received nearly 15 million and 8 million tags, respectively.  Rihanna and Gotye topped the list for most-tagged artists.   

2013 New Artists to Watch 

The Shazam music team analyzed internet hype and other publicly available information about breaking artists, then compared against Shazam's data to indicate which acts are trending with fans.  Shazam predicts that the artists expected to make headlines in 2013 are: 

French Montana - an American Moroccan rapper, his collaboration with Rick Ross and Lil Wayne, "Pop That", was one of the breakthrough singles of 2012. 

Bei Maejor - after finding success as a writer and producer with Trey Songz and Justin Bieber, he now looks to break big in 2013 with new solo material. 

Aluna George - comprised of Aluna Francis and George Reid, this London band has been turning heads with their R&B-infused electronic sound. 

Joey Bada$$ - only in the game a year, this young Brooklyn rapper is already gaining attention with his 90's- style hip-hop. 

Becky G - with Simon Cowell and will.i.am as fans, she already has two strong advocates in the pop world. 

Angel Haze - perhaps the most exciting female rap star since Nicki Minaj, Angel Haze has racked up huge tags on her single, "New York. 

Rhye - this mysterious duo produce startlingly original soul-drenched pop music. 

Tito Lopez - this Mississippi-born rapper has been signed to Capitol and has been gaining notable tagging numbers stateside. 

Baauer - this American producer makes bass-heavy dance music that smashes together the worlds of dubstep and hardcore hip-hop. 

Haim - these three LA sisters sound like a cross between Stevie Nicks and En Vogue. 

These acts will be releasing albums in the New Year.  Highlights from the predictions for 2012 include Lana Del Ray, A$AP Rocky and Frank Ocean, all of whom made it to the Billboard Hot 100, with Lana Del Ray's album "Born to Die" reaching to number two and selling more than two million albums worldwide.  Additionally, another prediction by Shazam last year was newcomer Michael Kiwanuka, who was nominated for a Mercury Prize for his album "Home Again".