Jan 13 2025
Chris Barton is the Founder & Creator of Shazam, a key contributor to Google and Dropbox, and a highly praised keynote speaker, all despite his dyslexia.
Spend time with inventor Chris Barton and you’ll be inspired to believe anything is possible. His positive energy to make seemingly impossible ideas come to life is absolutely contagious. Chris’s best-known creation is Shazam, the app that changed the way the world discovers music and laid the groundwork for the consumer AI industry we know today. However, Chris’s latest venture, Guard, uses AI to detect drowning in swimming pools – a never-before accomplished effort. Chris Barton is available to be booked for corporate and private events. He is also well-known for his keynote and motivational speaking. Contact the Mollie Plotkin Group today to inquire about Chris Barton’s fees.
Contact the Mollie Plotkin Group at 215-510-6607 to book Chris Barton for corporate or private events, keynote speeches, workshops, fireside chats, motivational speaking, or virtual appearances. Our agency will work directly with your organization and our keynote speakers to create an unforgettable event.
The Mollie Plotkin Group is the leading keynote speakers agency and entertainment bureau bringing excitement to audiences, clients, and employees. We represent subject-matter experts in every possible field, so whether we’re your partner in creating a memorable meeting, or your meeting planner’s secret weapon in securing the perfect keynote speaker, we’re in this with you.
Chris grew up with a French mother and British father – both of whom were university professors. However, academics were a struggle for Chris. Eventually, he would learn he had undiagnosed dyslexia. Over the years, Chris learned to embrace what he now calls his superpower. He believes his dyslexia helps him uncover novel solutions to obstacles and allows him to achieve his many accomplishments. Shazam is a great example.
Though Chris does not position himself as an expert on the broader future of A.I., his journey as a true A.I. pioneer started when he had the idea to identify music using a mobile phone. At the time, no technology existed to achieve this goal. In addition, he was told by Professors at MIT and Stanford that this application of pattern recognition was impossible.
Today, Shazam is a global phenomenon with over 2 billion downloads. The app lets people identify songs out of thin air from anywhere they are, making it nothing short of pure magic.
Besides inventing a new technology that didn’t yet exist, he had to build a search engine supercomputer from scratch, create the world’s largest music database, and create a user experience on very basic mobile phones. Did Chris ever think maybe the experts were right? “No,” he says.
When Shazam was founded in 2000, it was far ahead of its time. It was three years before iTunes, seven years before the iPhone, and eight years before the App Store. The nascent company struggled in the early days, teetering near bankruptcy for six years waiting for the key digital advancements that would allow Shazam to unleash its full potential on the world.
In 2018, Shazam and its 200 employees were acquired by Apple in Apple’s 6th largest acquisition of all time. It has become an integral part of our everyday lives, with its ability to instantly identify songs and provide information about the music such as lyrics.
Shazam has even become a verb, as in “Can you Shazam this song for me?” In addition to its widespread usage, Shazam has also been the inspiration for a popular game show hosted by Jamie Foxx called “Beat Shazam,” which has aired for six seasons on the Fox Network challenging contestants to recognize songs faster than the Shazam app.
Chris has also played a key role in tech history as a founding member of Google’s Android Partnerships team where he created Android’s mobile operator partnership framework. He also spent four years at Dropbox where he led carrier partnerships and was one of the first 100 people at the company.
Holding 12 patents, including one found within the Google search algorithm that billions of people use, Chris has made significant contributions to the tech industry. He also invests in a wide range of start-ups, including artificial intelligence for heart health and inflammatory disease therapeutics.
Now, Chris spends much of his time building his third startup company, Guard, a system that detects drowning in swimming pools using artificial intelligence.
When he has time, Chris enjoys speaking at events and sharing lessons learned from his experiences achieving the impossible. In his speeches, Chris shares his Start From Zero thinking method of questioning assumptions and challenging conventional wisdom. He inspires people with stories of the unexpected mindsets that are necessary to overcome challenges and achieve success. His amazing story completely captivates audiences and motivates them to make big things happen in their organizations – to create magic in defiance of the obstacles.
When he isn’t working or speaking, you can find Chris enjoying the outdoors and spending time with his son, Jude.
Find out how to hire Chris Barton to appear at your next event. Contact the Mollie Plotkin Group to inquire about Chris Barton’s availability and cost. When booking Chris Barton for an event, we need to know the type of venue and location the event will take place. Chris Barton is a popular choice for corporate events, private events, and virtual events. So, you can click the Check Availability button or contact us and an MPG Chris Barton booking agent will get back to you within 48 hours.
How much to book Chris Barton depends on the type of event. So, the cost to hire Chris Barton for corporate or private events is available by contacting a Mollie Plotkin Group Agent. Notably, Chris Barton is available for conferences, festivals, private parties, and events. Just contact the Mollie Plotkin Group and tell the booking agent the proposed date, time, and location.
Our speakers are in high demand! View their upcoming events.
Disrupt Your Thinking. Defy Barriers. Inspire Delight.
Chris Barton knows a thing or two about bringing bold ideas to life. When he dreamt up Shazam, Chris was told using a phone to identify songs out of thin air was impossible. The rocky path from that audacious idea to becoming Apple’s sixth-largest acquisition is an inspiring story worthy of a Hollywood movie. With over two billion downloads, Shazam delivers pure magic and has changed the way the world discovers music.
In this presentation, Chris unpacks lessons learned from creating Shazam using the earliest forms of AI as well as his pioneering involvement with Android at Google and mobile partnerships at Dropbox. Doing something new – disrupting the status quo – tests our resilience and requires an ability to overcome obstacles with fresh eyes. A holder of twelve patents, Chris’s storytelling and insights inspire people to accomplish big things within their organizations using “creative persistence” and his Start from Zero methodology – new ways of thinking and overcoming barriers. Startups use these concepts to tackle insurmountable obstacles, and you should too – to create Shazam-like magic in defiance of all odds.
Chris customizes the emphasis of this presentation for each audience.
Entrepreneurs have passion, ideas, and desire but can get stuck on the difficult journey to achieving their dreams. They want to bring something truly new to the world but need to learn how to overcome big obstacles, choose their priorities, and convince others of their vision. In this keynote, Chris uses the story of Shazam’s creation, including the scrappy and creative hacks that transformed an idea into a product with two billion customers, to inspire and teach entrepreneurs about the mindset that creates great companies.
Technology & AI are dramatically changing what’s possible in our world. Our challenge as we create new things is to dislodge from the comfort of what we already know. Chris created Shazam after being told by every “expert” that his outlandish idea was impossible. It was an idea far ahead of its time – eight years before iPhone apps existed.
In this presentation, Chris helps audiences imagine and create new visions for the future. He inspires with jaw-dropping stories from creating Shazam and shows how innovation comes from not just an idea but from the series of insights you gain by overcoming obstacles.
A great idea gets you nowhere without tenacity. True disruption requires both persistence and creative solutions. In creating Shazam, Chris faced obstacles many thought were insurmountable. Most would have given up, but he refused. Instead, Chris challenged every assumption about the obstacles he faced. Chris urges audiences to question the status quo and to sweat the details on the path to redefining the future, sharing stories and actionable lessons that teach audiences new mindsets to break past barriers.
We all know simple is great, so why don’t all organizations create amazing things just like Apple? The reality is that friction permeates almost everything we do. This “extra effort” frustrates our customers, partners, and colleagues. In creating Shazam, Chris moved mountains to make one thing very easy – identifying any song. Shazam changed the way the world discovers music. Chris combines stories from creating Shazam with his twelve years at Android (Google) and Dropbox to provide concrete examples of how we can all push boundaries to eliminate friction.
that delivered significant value for Coca-Cola. His messages sparked action among our executives and inspired our bottler partners toward our goals. Chris’s energy and enthusiasm really stands out. He is an inspiration with truly eye-opening insights and stories. – VP Customer & Commercial Leadership, Coca-Cola
As an MC, applause usually signals the end of one speech and is my cue to get back on stage. Chris is a different breed of speaker – his story is so authentic and inspiring that he received multiple applause breaks throughout his speech. A particularly impressive feat especially given that he was addressing 5000+ predominantly German business professionals after they had already been wowed by President Obama earlier at that same event. I’ve been a professional Event MC and host to over 500 events around the world and I must say Chris is a truly gifted speaker and genuinely beautiful soul. – Master of Ceremonies, DamRam
Chris delivered an inspiring and on point presentation tailored to over 7,000 Optus employees to launch our new Innovation strategy. To date, Chris’s talk attracted the highest in real time attendance and engagement as compared to any other speaker we have had on this topic. Chris shed light on how innovation can be a big breakthrough, but it can also be an everyday improvement sharing practical examples from his time at Shazam and Google. The presentation balanced both the mindset that is required to drive a cultural shift for innovation as well as the process to bring innovative ideas to life. Chris delivered a compelling talk that generated talk ability across the organization with leaders revisiting the recording later with their teams to help reinforce key messages. Powerful content delivered with an engaging story! – Director Innovation Strategy, Optus
All day people were coming up to me. Loved that there was so much take away. People are still buzzing about your presentation days later. Thanks for making me look good. – Sr. Vice President/Chief Operations Officer, YMCA
