Every day, Shazam gets millions of requests from users around the world who are curious about the artist behind a song. These requests come from all over—TikTok videos, car commercials, overhearing something in the wild—which makes it a powerful tool for predicting tomorrow’s heavy hitters. For 2025, we’ve assembled six genre-focused playlists—based on Shazam data and reviewed by our editors—that feature artists poised to have a breakthrough year. Country music fans should look out for more folk-rock-country hybridising, courtesy of rising stars like Cameron Whitcomb, and poetic guitar ballads about heartbreak and rural life, like these by Noeline Hofmann. In 2024, Hofmann’s song “Purple Gas” caught the attention of Zach Bryan, who was so moved by the lyrics and songcraft that he released it as a duet on his blockbuster album The Great American Bar Scene. Hofmann’s own EP, Purple Gas, was released in October, and is just the beginning. Have a listen and add the ones you love to your library before the world catches on.