Identify songs in mashups and mixtapes the easy way
By
Writer
- University of Wolverhampton
Mark Harris is a former writer for Lifewire who wrote about the digital music scene and streaming music services in an easy to understand, no-nonsense manner.
Updated on May 15, 2022
Reviewed by
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/KaylaDube-d1b0fdb0e7704d5697568c25cda4350b-d6299b7e4de84ddea274b57b2124ba5e.jpeg "How to Use Shazam to Identify Music Already on Your Phone (1)")
Reviewed byKayla Dube
- J. Everette Light Career Center
Kayla Dube has 4+ years' experience in videography and filmmaking. She frequently works in production with indie film companies.
In This Article
Jump to a Section
Use Shazam to Identify a Song Playing on Your Device
View and Listen to Your Shazams
Set up Auto Shazam
Troubleshooting Tips
(Video) How to find songs you’ve previously identified with Shazam on iPhone and iPad | Apple SupportFrequently Asked Questions
What to Know
- Launch the Shazam app, select a track you want to identify from your music app, and tap Shazam.
- View the song's title and info and past Shazams from My Music > Shazams on iOS and the Shazam Library on Android.
This article explains how to use Shazam to identify music playing on your mobile device instead of music from an external source.
Instructions cover the iOS version of Shazam and Shazam for Android.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/OG_shazam-a-song-that-is-already-on-your-phone-2438269-b185f5d74b534867b9642694d211984a.png "How to Use Shazam to Identify Music Already on Your Phone (2)")
Use Shazam to Identify a Song Playing on Your Device
If you haven't installed this free app, first download it for your operating system and launch it.
The Shazam app needs to be running in the background before you start playing music.
Launch the Shazam app.
Open your preferred music app and select and play the unknown track you want Shazam to identify. For this example, we used RadioApp Pro, an app that streams terrestrial radio stations to your phone.
Swap back to the Shazam app and tap Shazam. After a few seconds, you should see information about the song title and artist.
If you have an audio file that contains several songs, tap Shazam every time a new song starts to play.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/001_shazam-a-song-that-is-already-on-your-phone-2438269-5bbf98fd46e0fb005145a07d.jpg "How to Use Shazam to Identify Music Already on Your Phone (3)")
View and Listen to Your Shazams
After you finish playing the unknown songs on your phone, view a list of the tracks the app identified by viewing your Shazam history. The Shazam app saves all identified song information to your Shazam Library on Android and My Music > Shazams on iOS.
Select a song from your list of identified songs to hear the track in the Apple Music Store. You can also stream the whole song by using Spotify, Deezer, or YouTube Music on Android.
If you choose to stream identified tracks using Spotifyor Deezer, the relevant apps must be installed on your device.
Set up Auto Shazam
Open and run the Shazam app to identify songs on a case-by-case basis. If you'd like Shazam to listen in the background and determine what it hears, turn on Auto Shazam.
- On iOS: Select the Settings icon and move the toggle to the on position next to Shazam on app start. Alternatively, long-press the Shazam icon to turn it on.
- On Android: Select and hold the Shazam app icon and tap Auto Shazam.
Troubleshooting Tips
If you have problems identifying songs, try these fixes:
- Increase the volume on your device: Sometimes Shazam won't hear a song playing if the microphone doesn't pick up the sound.
- Use headphones: Another way to solve the problem of Shazam not hearing songs is to use earbuds or headphones. Once connected, hold the earbuds next to your device's microphone to see if that solves the issue. You may have to play around with the volume to get the correct level.
FAQ
How do I use Shazam on Snapchat?
Shazam is built into Snapchat, so you don't have to download anything extra. To identify a song while on Snapchat, open and then press and hold the Camera screen. Shazam will identify the song, and you can send it as a snap.
How do I use Shazam on an iPhone?
To use Shazam on an iPhone, download the iOS Shazam app from the App Store. Open the app and tap Shazam to identify the music playing around you. Shazam will save the identified music in the app's My Music section.
How do I add Shazam to the Control Center?
To add Shazam to your iPhone's Control Center, go to Settings > Control Center and tap Add (plus sign) next to Music Recognition. To identify a song playing, open Control Center and tap Music Recognition, which has Shazam's logo.
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for letting us know!
Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day
Subscribe
Tell us why!
FAQs
How to Use Shazam to Identify Music Already on Your Phone? ›
You can identify a song on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device using the Shazam app's pulsing button, automatically with Auto Shazam, or from a widget.
Can you Shazam a song that's playing on your phone? ›You can identify a song on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device using the Shazam app's pulsing button, automatically with Auto Shazam, or from a widget.
How do you identify the song playing on your phone? ›- Open your phone's Settings app.
- Tap Sound & vibration. ...
- Turn on Identify songs playing nearby. ...
- Wait a few minutes while your phone downloads the song database.
- After the download is done, songs playing around you will automatically be identified and shown on your lock screen.
Step 1. On your iOS device, go to Settings and Control Center, then turn on the Access Within Apps, click the + button next to Music Recognition to add it. Step 2. Then play your video on your device, then open the Control Center, and click the Shazam icon to enable the Music Recognition.
Can my iPhone tell me what song is playing? ›In the search bar, tap the mic . Ask "What's this song?" or tap Search a song. Play a song or hum, whistle, or sing the melody of a song. Play a song: Google will identify the song.
How do you find a song you don't know the name of? ›- Shazam. Shazam is a popular song-identifier app that works on most smartphones and even has an extension for web browsers. ...
- SoundHound. ...
- MusixMatch. ...
- Genius. ...
- Google Assistant. ...
- Siri & Alexa.
If you've limited WiFi or data signal, Shazam might struggle to connect. Sometimes turning off mobile data, waiting a couple of minutes and turning it back on again resets the connection. There might not be a problem at your end at all. Be sure to check if Shazam is down for everyone.
How do I find songs I Shazamed? ›...
How to Access Your Shazam History on Android
- Open the Shazam app on your phone.
- Tap Library in the top-left corner of the screen.
- Your Shazams will now appear in the Recent Shazams section.
Shazam will identify any song in seconds. Discover artists, lyrics, videos & playlists, all for free.
Can Siri identify songs by humming? ›You can use Siri to identify a song on most Apple devices, including the Apple Watch, but it has to be the original version. It won't recognize your humming or singing.
How can I identify every song? ›
Shazam identifies a song by creating a unique digital fingerprint to match what you're hearing with one of the millions of songs in the Shazam database.
How do I find a song from a video on my phone? ›- Use a song recognition app such as Shazam or SoundHound.
- Google the lyrics of the song.
- Use a digital assistant like Siri or Alexa.
- Search the video description or read the comments of the video.
Live Music
The only way Shazam can identify a song during a live performance is if the band is skilled enough to perform the song exactly as it was recorded.
- Shazam. Shazam is a popular song-identifier app that works on most smartphones and even has an extension for web browsers. ...
- SoundHound. ...
- MusixMatch. ...
- Genius. ...
- Google Assistant. ...
- Siri & Alexa.
Identify songs in Control Center on iPhone or iPad
To identify songs, open Control Center, then tap the Shazam button . Shazam can identify songs playing on your device even when you're using headphones.
Shazam will identify any song in seconds. Discover artists, lyrics, videos & playlists, all for free.
Can Alexa find a song by hearing it? ›Alexa has a feature to help users find and identify new music called Song ID. Listening to music using Alexa usually starts with a specific request.
Is Shazam the best music finder? ›Shazam. Based on popularity alone and its accurate music recognition, Shazam is the app to beat in this showdown. The app features a simple interface. Upon opening it, tap its iconic logo button to start listening for music to identify.
How long does Shazam take to recognize a song? ›When you use Shazam to identify a song on the radio, the app picks the sample of the song and scans its database for a matching audio fingerprint. The sample, usually 10 seconds long, say from 0.10 – 0.20 seconds into the song, is enough to detect a match.
How does Shazam music recognition work? ›How does the Shazam algorithm work? The Shazam algorithm distills samples of a song into fingerprints, and matches these fingerprints against fingerprints from known songs, taking into account their timing relative to each other within a song.