5 Ways to Identify Songs Playing Near You.
The moment you listen to random music and lyrics. It’s really cool and for some reason you can’t remember the song. Well, you can always use Shazam, call Google Assistant for help or Google lyrics, etc. But which of all these apps is the most accurate, fast, or convenient? And on that note, here are some ways to identify the song around you. And chances are good that these apps are already installed on your phone.
Now, in order to determine the accuracy of the applications, I took 5 different songs. They all belong to different genres, from popular Hollywood music to regional Hindi.
- Electro-Light – Symbolism [NCS Edition]
- Don’t Stop Believing by Journey
- Apna Time Aayega by Ranveer Singh
- Lounge Relax by Stig Lee
- Aalum Dolum by Anirudh Ravicandar
We’ll see which of these apps can identify all songs. And if they can, it would be interesting to see how fast they are and what additional features they offer.
Read: How to skip songs on Android using volume buttons when screen is off
Select the songs playing near you
1. Snapchat
Yes, you can use Snapchat to identify the song that is playing around you. This feature has been around for a long time, but it is so hidden in the settings that it is difficult to understand.
To recognize the sound playing around you, open the Snapchat app. Once you get the Snap screen, aim your camera at the video being played. If the video doesn’t play, just hover it in any random direction. It doesn’t really matter. Hold your camera screen and you should see musical notes floating around. It’s just a great way to tell you that it is processing audio.
Once you’ve identified the song, a Shazam popup should appear. The Shazam popup gives you the title of the song, a link to play it, and some additional information. You can share the same Shazam pop-up card.
Results: In my testing of 5 songs, SnapChat was able to identify all songs. There was a big delay though and I have to wait at least 10 seconds for each song.
2. Google Assistant
With the launch of the Pixel 3, Google came up with its own song recognition algorithm. And given the amount of data Google has, I have high hopes for it. So, with the Pixel 3, it detects the song on the lock screen itself, without any external trigger.
This feature is now available on all Android devices. Now you can do it on any phone using Google Assistant. However, results may vary depending on the quality of your phone’s microphone, which is common across all the apps mentioned in this list. So, to start recognizing the command, you have to ask the Google Assistant to “Detect this song.”
Once you’ve said this, Google Assistant will go into song listening mode and start processing the input. Once it identifies the song, it will show you the result. Now you can play the song or share it on social networks.
Results: In my testing of 5 songs, Google Assistant was able to find every song. In terms of speed, he’ll be second only to Shazam (we’ll come back to that later), but he is definitely faster than all virtual assistants.
3. Siri
If you’re using an iPhone, this feature is built into Siri. Starting with iOS 8, Siri has built-in support for Shazam , making it easy to identify any song you hear in-game. You don’t need to additionally download the Shazam app. To enable song mode, you must ask Siri, “What song is playing?”
Read: 8 Best Music Apps for Windows 10 Computers
Once Siri detects it, you will receive a card to purchase from Apple Music.
Results: In my testing, Siri was able to identify all 5 songs. However, it was slightly slower than Shazam, although it used the same API.
4. Shazam
Now Shazam was the first of the apps built to recognize songs. Siri and Snapchat use the Shazam API internally to identify music. I’m impressed with Shazam and so are you. You just need to hit the Shazam button and let it analyze the music around you.
Read: How to Hide Audio Files in Android Music Player Apps
This is the fastest way to identify songs in a list. Along with the song title and links to play it, it goes one step further and gives you all the lyrics as well.
Read: 8 Best TuneIn Alternatives for Your Music and Radio
Results: In my testing, Shazam was the fastest to identify all 5 songs and also provide their lyrics.
5. SoundHound
SoundHound is a completely different ball game. It is a full fledged music player to search for songs. It has several features like playing YouTube videos inside the app, listening to lyrics, and even humming a song for identification.
To identify the song, open the SoundHound app and press the SoundHound button.
Moreover, you can also control the voice in the app. Just say “Ok Hound” to activate the voice assistant and you can ask it to identify the song.
Once it has identified the song, you can listen to it, share it, or play the video on YouTube. It also displays the lyrics, but it wasn’t as good as Shazam.
Results: In my testing, it was able to identify all the songs except “Apna Time Aayega by Ranveer Singh” which is a fairly popular Hindi song. On top of that, it failed a couple of times, but by trying again I was able to get it to identify the song exactly.
Packaging
For people with iPhone, the best option is “Hey Siri”. If you’re a Snapchat user, the built-in feature works just as well as Shazam. For Android, you can work with Google Assistant, but if you need more information, you should try Shazam. SoundHound is also a good option with a built-in music player and you can give it a try. The cool thing is that you can hum the lyrics to make it sound like a hound, but that rarely works.
If you still can’t identify the song, you can post it to r / tipofmytongue or WatZatSong, both of which are a community based group where you can ask real people to identify a song for you. You just have to hum the text on the website and they will return the result to you.
For any queries or questions, let me know in the comments below.
Also Read: 9 Best Free Music Streaming Apps for Your Smartphone
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