Snapchat and Shazam have teamed up in one of the most exciting recent developments in social media and music. Here’s how to Shazam on Snapchat and to make the most of the crossover for yourself.

Shazam and Snapchat have both played a big part in the music industry for a while now. Snapchat is one of the fastest growing social networks on the planet, and it is becoming an increasingly important way for musicians, labels and brands to reach out to fans. Check out P Montana or Paigey Cakey on Snapchat to see artists making connections, and don’t forget to add MN2S on Snapchat too.

1. How to use Shazam on Snapchat

Shazam, on the other hand, has been vital to anyone who hears a track they love but has no idea how to identify it. This is particularly useful in electronic music, where DJ setlists with no tracklists are abundant. As its role in the music world has grown, Shazam’s charts have become increasingly important, and a great indicator of which songs will become hits.

This year, TIEKS’s ‘Sunshine’ climbed the Shazam charts after it was featured in a Fiat ad, and Kylie Audlist’s ‘This Girl’ was one of the most Shazamed tracks of the year. Shazam has expanded far beyond its original song-identifying purposes, now offering accurate lyrics, and introducing users to trending content to help them stay ahead of the curve.

We’ve established the background to this collaboration. So now these two forces of nature have collided, what do you have to do to use them together? It really is very simple.

1. Fire up Snapchat

Simply tap the Snapchat icon on your phone’s home screen or app list to start the fun. You didn’t really need us to tell you that, did you? If you don’t have Snapchat already, it is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

2. Tap and hold the camera button

Being able to @shazam directly on @snapchat is a GAME-CHANGER

— Alan (@hisnameisAlan) December 14, 2016

Tapping and holding the Snapchat camera button when there is a song playing will automatically activate Shazam integration, revealing the name of the song, and giving you all the information you could need to seek it out and listen to it again.

Why use Shazam on Snapchat?

Though the Shazam app comes with many useful and interesting additional functions of its own, accessing its key function through Snapchat is undoubtedly quicker and more convenient. Especially if you plan to take a Snap of yourself dancing to the unidentified track anyway.

What impact will Shazam on Snapchat have on the music industry?

Shazam has already proved itself to be a reliable predictor of chart success, as we saw with ‘This Girl’ and ‘Sunshine’, but now it could become even more accurate. Shazam already boasts 120 million active users looking up songs on a frequent basis. There may well be substantial crossover between their two audiences, but there is no doubt that Snapchat’s active user base which is set to reach 217 million this year there will be a much larger number of people Shazaming songs in the future.

With more users, Shazam’s accuracy at predicting a song’s commercial success – or even gauging its popularity – will vastly improve. In the digital age, the official music charts have always been slightly flawed as they adapt to keep up.

Are there any more music software team ups on the horizon?

Actually, yes. Software giant Google have recently been linked to a potential Soundcloud buyout. This comes after Spotify decided against buying Soundcloud for $1 billion as the platform was said not to be profitable enough for their liking. The asking price is now thought to be $500 billion.

Book Shazam success stories TIEKS or Kylie Auldist now, and book prolific Snappers Paigey Cakey or P Montana while you’re at it.