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Chris Barton (businessman)

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Chris Barton is an American entrepreneur, inventor, technology investor, and keynote speaker, known for his work in the technology industry. He is the co-founder and first CEO of Shazam, a music identification application.[2][3][4][5]

Chris Barton
Born
United States
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of California
University of Cambridge
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur, inventor, keynote speaker
Known forCo-founding Shazam[1]
Websitechrisjbarton.com

Early life and education

Chris Barton was born and raised in the United States. His father, John P. Barton, was a professor in nuclear physics, and his mother, Claudia F. Barton, was a professor in the field of computer science.[6][7]

Barton graduated from University of California, Berkeley, with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Economics, and later pursued a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the same institution.[2][8][9] Barton also earned a Master in Finance degree from the University of Cambridge.[10][9]

Career

Barton's career began with several years as a strategy consultant at the L.E.K. Consulting in London and the San Francisco Consulting Group, and it also included an internship at Microsoft.[9]

Shazam

After conceiving the idea for Shazam in late 1999, Barton co-founded Shazam in 2000, alongside Philip Inghelbrecht and Dhiraj Mukherjee as co-founders, and later, Avery Wang as the fourth co-founder.[11][12][13][5][14] Barton held positions including CEO and Board Director, until 2018 when Shazam was acquired by Apple.[9][15][7][14]

On September 24, 2018, Apple acquired Shazam for a reported $400 million.[16][4][17] In 2022, Apple announced that Shazam has been downloaded over 2 billion times. In 2012, Shazam announced that it drove over $300 million a year in music downloads.[18][19] The company had raised $143.5 million in venture capital financing and its investors included Kleiner Perkins, DN Capital, IVP, Sony Music, Universal Music and Warner Music.[16]

Google and Dropbox

From 2004 until 2016, Barton held roles at Google and Dropbox, focusing on areas such as Android business development and establishing partnerships with mobile operators.[20] Barton was the first business development employee at Google to focus on mobile partnerships.[10][9][20][21]

Barton holds 12 patents including two for Google and five for Dropbox. One of these patents is employed within the Google Search algorithm.[22]

Barton was a witness at the United States v. Google LLC antimonopoly trial held in Washington D.C. in 2023.[20][23]

Guard

In 2018, he founded Guard Inc., a startup that employs artificial intelligence technology to prevent drowning incidents in swimming pools. Since then, Barton has served as the CEO of the company.[9][17]

Personal life

Barton had undiagnosed dyslexia-related challenges and ADHD during his childhood.[15]

Barton appeared in a Super Bowl television advertisement in 2012 alongside Ray Kurzweil and Kevin Systrom, the founder of Instagram.[17][24][25]

References

  1. ^ Keegan, Victor (25 April 2002). "Heard it thru' the mobile". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  2. ^ a b Jacobs, Emma (31 January 2014). "Shazam: the app that calls the tune". Financial Times. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Meet Chris Barton, founder of music recognition app Shazam". businesschief.asia. 2023-04-21. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  4. ^ a b Singleton, Micah (2017-12-11). "Apple confirms it has acquired Shazam". The Verge. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  5. ^ a b "How Shazam Makes Unique Audio Fingerprints to Identify Songs". WSJ. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  6. ^ Gallagher, David F. "Name That Tune, From Your Cellphone". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  7. ^ a b Newnham, Danielle (2013-12-17). Mad Men of Mobile: Leading Entrepreneurs and Innovators Share Their Stories, from SIRI to SHAZAM. Amazon. ISBN 978-1-4942-6656-1.
  8. ^ Jolly, Adam (29 May 2002). "Going for a song and growth". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Chris Barton - Founder, CEO at Shazam & Guard Inc. Biography". build. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  10. ^ a b "Founder of Shazam | Innovation Speaker | Chris Barton". Founder Of Shazam | Innovation Keynote Speaker | Chris Barton. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  11. ^ Sheppard, Emma (2016-12-07). "Shazam co-founder: 'We were growing a business in a collapsing market'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  12. ^ Gillies, Trent (2015-06-14). "Shazam names that tune, drawing in money and users". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  13. ^ Sampat, Rahul. "Snaps & claps: the story of Berkeley alums and Shazam's $400M Apple acquisition". blogs.haas.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  14. ^ a b Holl, Kristi (2014-12-30). Shazam and Its Creators. Rosen Young Adult. ISBN 978-1-4777-7925-5.
  15. ^ a b Masters, Julie (2023-05-31). "Chris Barton on the story of Shazam, doing the impossible and a start from zero mindset". JULIE MASTERS. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  16. ^ a b Lunden, Ingrid (2018-09-24). "Apple closes its $400M Shazam acquisition and says the music recognition app will soon become ad free". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  17. ^ a b c "The Power of Perseverance | Shazam Co-Founder Chris Barton on Making the Impossible Possible". tonyrobbins.com. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  18. ^ "Shazam turns 20". Apple Newsroom (Australia). Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  19. ^ "Shazam Is Generating Big Bucks for iTunes and Amazon".
  20. ^ a b c "In Antitrust Trial, Former Google Employee Details History of Search Deals". The New York Times. 2023-09-13. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  21. ^ "Former Googler testifies under DOJ grilling that his priority was default status for the search engine on mobile". Fortune. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  22. ^ "Google Patents". patents.google.com. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  23. ^ "Google Trial Spills Details on Search Engine's Deals With Apple, Samsung". WSJ. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  24. ^ "Super Bowl ads: Mobile innovators download in Best Buy Web video series (video)". Washington Post. 2023-06-28. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  25. ^ "Best Buy's Super Bowl commercial highlights mobile tech innovators". VentureBeat. 2012-02-06. Retrieved 2023-09-10.


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