Exclusive Interview with Shazam Founder + Summerfest TechAI 2026 Keynote Chris Barton.
His recipe behind one of the world's most-used apps, the company he's building with his 17-year-old son, and how he's looking forward to his first trip to Milwaukee.
This special edition article was sponsored by Cream City Cyber, Milwaukee's global cybersecurity consultancy helping companies of all sizes navigate digital risk. From AI governance to cybersecurity, they've got you covered. Learn more at creamcitycyber.com.
The call from Chris came from Paris.
Just past sunrise on a very early Milwaukee Friday morning, I took a call from Shazam founder, Chris Barton.
He was in Paris.
At times, I could hear the bustle behind him. Which reminded me that I was talking to someone who travels the world telling his story. Elevating his 17-year-old son in the process. Which I’m sure you’ll learn more about during his keynote at Summerfest TechAI on June 26 (details here).
We had a helluva conversation chatting like longtime friends. As a super successful founder, speaker, and soon to be author, Chris chopped it up like a pro. He volleyed back on the questions like I suspect he does most days in interviews just like this one.
But for me, this was not just an interview. This was another pinch me moment.
I grew up in Milwaukee’s South side projects. Eventually rising through slightly less rough neighborhoods over time.
I fumbled my way into college. I didn’t know how to get in or even what the hell I was going to do once I got there. But through creative perseverance (a term Chris has coined), I did get there. And by the time I graduated from MATC in 1996 and then MSOE in 1998, I had become obsessed with technology and tech devices.
Meanwhile, in 1999, Chris came up with the idea for Shazam and in 2000 he and his co-founders began building it.
I’m not sure you can design people from two very different worlds.
Nor could you master plan to put them both on the phone together, one in Paris and the other in Greendale, a short 26 years later.
But it seems that for me, that’s how my life works.
While Chris was working on Shazam, an app that changed the world, I was in a bar using it.
Shazam is as awesome today as it was back then, too.
For discovering music? Yes.
But also for betting friends a round of drinks on what the song was that you were listening to in any one of Milwaukee’s corner bars. Then using Shazam to prove it.
Oh the countless times I held my phone toward the speakers FTW.
So what, Steve. Why should we be excited to catch Chris’ keynote at Summerfest TechAI on June 26?
I asked Claude that very question myself. Here’s what I came back:
“Chris Barton didn't just build an app, he built something he was told was impossible by professors at MIT and Stanford, teetered near bankruptcy for six years, and went on to be downloaded over 2 billion times before Apple bought it. If you want to understand what it actually takes to push a wild idea past every "no" until the world catches up, this is the guy to hear it from.”
From my experience in talking to Chris, here’s what else you’ll get.
Honest enthusiasm from the heart. Scaled founder experience and proof points from someone who’s done it. Ideas for how you can do it, too, as a founder or C-suite executive and everyone in between.
All because the guy sincerely wants to share the wisdom and give back to others.
So, take a listen to the full interview below. Or listen to it on Spotify.
Then join me in catching Chris’ keynote at Summerfest TechAI on June 26. Get more info and register here.
Love you Milwaukee.