Search audio by sound. To replace Shazam: the best music recognition apps
Everyone has encountered a situation when a song plays on the radio or in a cafe that they really liked, but, naturally, no one knows the name. Long searches on the Internet yield nothing, but I really want to add the track to the playlist.
Fortunately, some startups have listened to requests to create something to recognize music from a passage. As a result, we have several interesting services.
AudioTag
The main purpose of this resource is online music recognition. There are no special complex elements that need to be manipulated to search. The song database contains several million tracks of any genre.
The chances that you will be unlucky are minimal.
It is noteworthy that the search is carried out in 2 ways:
- By providing a file;
- Link substitution.
To find what you are looking for, the service takes about 10–20 seconds, after which the result appears on the screen. The main thing is that the source is of relatively good quality, otherwise nothing will work. All you have to do is enter the captcha and then enjoy the result.
The site has an English localization, but the navigation is so clear that you don’t need knowledge of foreign languages.
In the search results you will be presented with several tracks that match the “description”. All you have to do is listen to everything to find the song you want.
Magic MP3 Tagger
Another interesting online music recognition program for your computer. This service was created for local and global search for interesting content on the Internet.
Important! If the application fails to find a song on its own, it automatically switches to the MusicBrainz database, which has a huge collection of free music.
As for the action algorithm. It is not the entire file that is used here, but a “snapshot” of it generated by the program. This method allows you to determine the track with an accuracy of up to 97%.
If you want to determine the genre of the composition, the application will kindly provide all the required information.
In addition, files from the "Track1" or "Various Artist" series will be renamed according to recognition. It is noteworthy that the application is not particularly friendly with the Russian language, so abracadabra may slip through the name of the song, but it is quite legible.
To use, you just need to download the installation package, which weighs a little more than 5 MB, and then feel free to search. The main thing is the presence of the Internet.
Shazam
Perhaps the most popular online music recognition service for Android, iOS and WP8. It's no wonder why it is in such demand among music lovers. Firstly, the application interface is so clear that you will not have any problems using it.
Secondly, all you need to do is press the “recognize” button on the screen, bringing the phone to the sound source. Alternatively, you can hum the tune yourself. The chances, of course, will be much less, but you can try.
Note! Online music recognition is carried out through the gadget’s microphone. Please note that when the phone is close to the sound source, various interference may be created, such as hissing and excessive volume.
Search accuracy is more than 90%. Please note that the signal must be legible. Finding it takes no more than 3–5 seconds from the moment it starts, and the procedure itself “eats” no more than 30–50 kb of traffic.
If the procedure is successful, you will be shown the title, artist, album, release year and link to YouTube. For iOS devices, you can purchase through iTunes to save to your collection.
Fans will love the artist bio that will appear when searching.
Unfortunately, there are some disadvantages. Let's start with the fact that the application is relatively free. The free version can only detect 5 tracks per month. In addition, advertisements constantly pop up. To get rid of the shortcomings, you will have to buy the product.
SoundHound
A service that constantly competes with Shazam in terms of quality and speed of online music recognition by sound. They are practically the same, with the exception of some points.
Important! The application, unfortunately, does not recognize Russian-language pop music in any of its manifestations. Apparently, our performers are simply not in the database. Even if they sing in a foreign language, the program will not find anyone.
On the other hand, the database allows you to find even the most exotic styles that are inaccessible to others. Often SoundHound manages to find little-known representatives of Techno, PsyTrance, DownTempo and underground heavy music of “garage” bands.
The principle of operation is similar to similar applications: you press a button, bring the microphone to the source and wait. If a song is stuck in your head, you can hum it. The result will also not be long in coming.
Another feature: enter a few lines of text (if you know) in the appropriate section, and then click on search. There are no fundamental differences for the application.
In addition to the track you are looking for, you are offered a video on YouTube, lyrics, the ability to purchase on iTunes, and more.
There are 2 types of programs: Free and Full. The basic functionality is identical, but the free version may disappoint with pop-up banners with advertisements. The paid version, which costs $7, does not have this drawback. On the other hand, purchase is optional, so decide for yourself which version to download.
An excellent application for those who love Western pop music.
Sound Search for Google Play
This is not a standard music recognition program, but a widget that is available to all owners of Android versions 4 and higher.
Unlike a full-fledged application, which must be launched and wasted time, the SoundSearch icon can be freely displayed on the desktop to be activated as needed.
Owners of OS 4.2 can even put the widget on the lock screen, saving even more startup time.
Recognition is carried out by servers Google. If the search engine finds something similar, the result will immediately appear on the display. Often the entire procedure does not take more than 3–5 seconds. In special cases, the system can search up to 10–12.
Accuracy varies between 85–92%. This is due to the fact that the application does not see any special differences between the remix and the original. This fact, of course, will darken fans of club culture, but nothing can be done.
The interface is minimalistic and limited to just one button. An excellent solution for those who do not need additional bells and whistles. In addition, the track you are looking for can be purchased in the Play Store.
From the article you will learn about the most popular methods related to the topic: online music recognition. Don't know the name of your favorite musical composition that sounds in the video? Do you remember only the words from a song that you really like? Perhaps you have an audio track, but its name is incorrect? Using one of the methods below can easily solve any of the problems listed above.
To recognize music, you can use both programs and online services. There are ways to recognize music using a mobile phone. Some of the music recognition options below require mandatory, others do without it. The article discusses all the most popular ways of determining the name of musical compositions, starting with the most common ones and ending with little-known, but working ones.
Which service to use is up to you, but we recommend searching for music in the chronological order that is presented in the article. It can easily happen that the first service will not help you find a song by sound online, then the second or third will certainly solve this problem. The services do not have specific features regarding musical genres or years of song release; you can only rely on the fact that the database of one of them contains the musical composition you need. It is worth saying that popular as well as modern audio files are searched without problems on almost all resources.
Online services for searching music
It is best to use them, because the likelihood that the file you are looking for will not be found is reduced to zero. This is due to the fact that the databases of online music search services are huge. There are several ways to search for music through the site:
- By providing the file (if it doesn't have a name).
- By providing a link to the music track.
- By playing or humming the song online via .
- Using a virtual piano (you need to play a tune).
If the music track you are looking for is in the video, then you only need to use the microphone search: turn on the microphone, then start the video with the song of interest. Topic: how to identify music by sound from a video file - we’ll look at it in the review of the service www.midomi.com
Although the interface of this Internet resource is English, it will not cause problems for Russian-speaking users; finding music with its help is easy and simple. When you visit the site, you immediately find yourself on the page you need, but you can only search for music through a computer (any browser is suitable); a browser on mobile devices will not be able to work with the site. Pay attention to the window in the center (see screenshot below), this is what you need.
The search is carried out using a microphone, into which you either sing a song online, or play a music track on a computer or other device, and then simply bring the microphone to the speakers. The source from which the recording is being made should sound normal, you do not need to bring the recording device too close to the speakers, as the sound may be excessively loud, with a lot of noise - this will cause you not to find the desired song.
Step-by-step instructions for searching music using Midomi
If the site cannot find the name of the song you are looking for, a corresponding window will appear (in the screenshot below). Midomi is one of the best services that allows you to search for music online, without any significant drawbacks.
Why might the search fail?
The most common reason why a music track is not found is poor recording quality. Please, before complaining about the poor performance of the site, make sure that you are doing voice search correctly, i.e. in good quality, to do this you need to click the “Review your voice search” button. If the recording really isn’t of very good quality, try again by clicking on the green magnifying glass.
If you have achieved the best recording quality, but the audio track is still not found, try recognizing the music using another online service.
The video discusses the operating principle of the Midomi service (from 1:04), as well as the AudioTag service, which will be discussed below.
The peculiarity of this, which provides the ability to search for music by sound online, is that it works with links and files. That is, you can either provide the service with a link to the audio file whose name you want to know, or upload it from your computer. The service will independently “listen” to your audio track and compare it with the existing audio files in the database, then the system will provide you with the found file (you will receive the name of the song, album, year of release). It is worth noting that this site is very old, so a huge number of musical compositions have accumulated in its database, which means that the likelihood that you will successfully recognize the song you are looking for is very high.
A clear example of working with the service
First, you need to go to the website and change the language to Russian. How to do this is shown below.
Thanks to changing the language to their native one, it seems to us that any user can easily figure out the AudioTag service on their own. Just in case, we will provide detailed instructions and check the functionality of the service ourselves.
First way. Let's try to find music by downloading an audio file from a computer. By clicking the “Browse…” button, you need to select a file stored on your hard drive, and then click the “Download” button. The service supports the most popular audio formats, a full list of which you can find in the FAQ section.
Before the search begins, AudioTag wants to make sure that you are not a robot, but a real user, so it offers a simple example to solve.
Upon completion of the operation, we obtain a result that provides detailed information about the musical composition: title, artist, album, year of publication of the song. As you can see from the picture below, the service can return several results, but one way or another we found out the name of the desired composition.
Second way. Now let's determine the name of the musical composition having only a link to it. Let us say right away that we were unable to carry out the search using this method. We entered a link to an audio file located in Google Drive, in the Yandex storage, we even tried to insert a direct link to an audio recording from the social network VKontakte, the result was always the same. If you have information on how to find out if this function works on the site, please write about it in the comments.
Most likely this is a service flaw. After reading the information in the FAQ section, a solution to the problem was not found. You may be able to successfully use this method to identify music. If the first method caused you difficulties, although it is unlikely, watch the video instructions located above (at the very end of the Midomi service guide).
An English-language online music recognizer with a distinctive feature - the presence of a virtual piano - is not suitable for everyone. If you have a musical education or are comfortable with keyboard instruments, then this service will be indispensable in finding a musical composition whose tune is spinning in your head. It is worth saying that Musipedia allows you to search not only by playing a melody on the piano, but also in other ways accessible to ordinary people who do not have musical skills. A significant drawback of the site: the lack of Russian language.
Search using microphone
Let's go to the website. In the screenshot below in the red square is a list of all possible methods for recognizing music, we need the last one: or whistle it to the computer using a microphone. You need to click exactly on the words “a microphone” in the indicated line. You can also click on a similar button in the top menu of the site.
You are taken to the audio file recording page. There are only two buttons: record and play. As in the first option for searching for music, you will be asked for permission to use the microphone, and then recording will begin. Whether you hum the song or play it by holding a microphone to the speakers, it makes no difference. Usually a musical fragment of 20 seconds is enough, after which you need to press the “stop” button and the service will automatically start searching for the music file.
We will not show an example of how to use the virtual piano, but will attach a video here, from which you will most clearly get acquainted with the principle of operation of the Musipedia service.
Social network WatZatSong
The specificity of this service is that it is not a robot that helps you find a music track, but other real Internet users. The disadvantage of the service is that it is only available in two languages: French and English. This should not stop avid music lovers! Below we will clearly demonstrate how to find music by sound online using WatZatSong.
The essence of the service is as follows: the user uploads a musical excerpt or an entire song to the site, and other people listen to the uploaded file and, if they know the name of the track, write it in the comments. Of course, this service will be most convenient for users who speak English or French. If you want, you can help people find a song by excerpt yourself: listen to the audio that other users upload, if you know the name, write it down, they will probably thank you.
Sequence of actions to search for music on the WatZatSong website
We didn't wait for users to comment on our post just because we weren't too interested in it. Judging by the reviews, activity on this social network is quite high and they will help you suggest the name of an audio track very quickly (within a few hours at most).
If you have an audio file whose name you don’t know, in the search format selection window (we looked at “Record”) you need to select “Upload”, upload the file from your computer to the site and perform the same actions: specify the genre, artist’s language, write comment (if you have this information), after which all you have to do is wait a little.
Determination using Tunatic program
You can download the program from the link: www.wildbits.com/tunatic. It works on all versions of Windows and Mac operating systems. The interface of this application is extremely simple and clear, so we will tell you about it in literally one sentence. Install the program on your computer and launch it, then turn on music from any source (browser, Winamp, Windows media player, etc.) and click the “Search” button in the program interface. Please note that the application requires an internet connection to operate.
So that we can be sure that you can figure out how to search for music by sound online through the Tunatic program, we are attaching a video tutorial here.
Find music using the Shazam mobile app
The only normal application for mobile devices that recognizes music - this is how Shazam can be described. The application is suitable for both Android and Apple, it can also be installed on a tablet. You will receive detailed information about the product on the official website: www.shazam.com/ru. We will only note here that the application is completely Russified and searches for music even better than some online services.
We will not talk about the principles of operation of the mobile program, since it is so easy to use that even a child can search for the name of a song by sound.
Detailed video review of the Shazam application:
Shazam app for desktop
Shazam Online has a desktop version, but it does not support older Windows operating systems. If you have Windows 8 or higher, you can easily install the application and use it for free. To use the application, you will need to register by entering your email address or logging in using your Facebook or Google account.
Installing Shazam on your computer
The easiest way is to go to the Windows Store and search for the program you need, then click the “Install” button. Or this can be done from the official website of the application developers: www.shazam.com/ru.
There is nothing complicated about this program; as soon as you install it on your device and run it, you will immediately understand how it works. We will only talk here about some of its features.
In addition to the main function - searching for music, Shazam for a computer can be used as an audio player. The great convenience of this program is that it can be used to share audio recordings with friends on social networks: Facebook and Twitter, or send files by email. In addition, the program will work even without an Internet connection, but you won’t be able to search for files right away; you will only be able to make notes, and it will be possible to obtain their recognized result only when connected to the network - this is convenient if you have a slow or unstable Internet connection. It is also worth noting that according to the rating of Russian-speaking users of programs capable of identifying modern music, Shazam takes first place.
One of the most famous analogues, which can recognize not only the music being played, but also the song you are singing. For an identified composition, a link to Google Play immediately appears, as well as supporting information about the artist himself, his albums and videos.
A useful feature of the service is the ability to monitor the lyrics of a song in real time. The application is completely free to use, but you will have to put up with advertising banners. In general, SoundHound is almost as accurate in terms of accuracy, but the recognition process itself sometimes takes much longer.
2. BeatFind
This is a lesser-known, but no less useful service, devoid of a clutter of functions and advertising. In terms of composition recognition accuracy, it is not inferior to its more famous analogues, and in speed it often even surpasses them. During testing, he made a mistake only once, mistaking a song performed a cappella for a studio original.
The recognized track can be opened in Spotify, Deezer or YouTube. The application also allows you to visualize the music that you “hear” by synchronizing the animation on the screen with it. Even your camera's flash can blink at the beat, as if it were a portable strobe light.
3.MusicID
Another little-known and very simple-looking service with links to Amazon. It doesn't know much about indie music, especially Russian-speaking artists, but it has a nice and user-friendly interface with a minimum amount of advertising.
All found tracks are stored in the search history, from where you can always return to them. For each song, similar compositions and links to videos from YouTube are displayed. You can easily navigate to all albums by artist. Russian language is not supported, but special knowledge of English is not required.
4. Google Audio Search and Siri
In fact, you can recognize the music around you without any applications. Owners of Android devices can use the audio search widget available with the Google app. It will not only identify the song, but will also allow you to immediately proceed to purchase on Google Play and get more information about the artist and album from the Web.
In the case of Apple devices, everything is much simpler, because Shazam functionality has long been built into Siri. You just need to launch the assistant and ask him “What song is playing?” or simply “Who’s singing?” A link to Apple Music is, of course, included.
5. Bots in Telegram
Using bots in the messenger is not the most convenient way to recognize music, but for those who “live” on Telegram, this option may well be suitable. You just need to add the desired bot and let it listen to the song by holding down the microphone in the message sending line.
One of the most popular bots for this is . It has no problems with recognition speed and accuracy. Each track found is supplemented with a link to the Yandex music service of the same name.
Another option is the Acknow bot. It is also quite accurate and fast, but for it to work you need to subscribe to the Bassmuzic channel. Acknow supplements tracks with links to Spotify and YouTube.
A situation may arise in our life when we accidentally heard some musical composition, and now we passionately desire to find it. We don’t know the title or the artist of the track, and sometimes all we have is a looped motif in our head, or a couple of words from the verses sung by the vocalist. I will reassure the reader - this may be quite enough, because there are a number of online resources on the Internet that make it easy to find music online. In this material I will tell you how to perform online music recognition, what network resources will help us with this, and how to work with them.
Let's move on to a description of network services that allow you to find a song online. The vast majority of them have their own database of tracks, comparing the track received from the user (recorded through a microphone or received as an audio file) with the songs available in the database.
When a match is found, the service informs the user about the result found, including the name of the song, its artist, a link to a video of this composition on YouTube, lyrics and other relevant information.
Please note that the higher the quality of the sound source, the higher the level of recognition of the song you need.
Midomi - quickly identify the song
- To work with the Midomi service, follow the link above.
- Click on the big “Click and Sing or Hum” button, give the service access to your microphone, and play (or sing) a segment of the desired composition for its subsequent identification.
Click on the “Click and Sing or Hum” button to start the music recognition procedure Then click on this button again to stop the identification procedure, the system will look for matches in its database, and then give you the result.
AudioTag - simple music search by passage
WatZatSong - excellent ID service
If previous services have not advanced you in any way towards identifying the composition you need, then the English-language resource “WatZatSong” will allow you to identify music online using the “human factor”. You simply upload the piece of music you need to the resource, and the user community there tries to identify your track by ear.
- To work with the service, go to it, click on the “Post a sample” button.
- The system will prompt you to complete the registration procedure.
- After confirming your registration by email, click on “Post a sample” again, in the menu that appears, select the option to provide a track (record - via microphone, upload - upload to a resource).
- Decide on the genre (genre) and language (language), if necessary, write a comment for the track in the very bottom line, and then click on “Confirm”. You will be notified by email of the responses received.
Working window of the “WatZatSong” service Moomash service
The Moomash service will allow you to find out the music online, which is available in a video on YouTube. Just go to this service, copy the link from the YouTube video into the appropriate window, and then click on the “Start” button.
The identification process may take some time, after which you will get the desired result.
Paste the link to the YouTube video into the window and click on the “Start” button Shazam program
If we talk about the most effective tool for recognizing music from a passage, then such a tool is the Shazam program for Android and iOS. It demonstrates the highest results in the process of music recognition, so those readers who are not yet familiar with its functionality can try it out, enjoying its practicality and ease of use.
To activate Shazam, just touch the screen of your smartphone Conclusion
In this article, I described services that allow you to perform track recognition online. Working with these sites is quite simple and will not cause any problems for users. If you want to have the most effective tools, then take a closer look at the mobile applications “Shazam” and “SoundHound” - they demonstrate the best results in online audio recognition.
How many times have you encountered a situation where you heard a great song on the radio or in a YouTube video, but you didn’t know who sang it, and no one in the comments could say its name? In such a situation, various music recognition programs, such as Tunatic, AudioTag, Shazam and Midomi, will help you. In this article, we will review their main features, test them, and point out the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Shazam
An online music recognition service that does not require file downloading. Just press one button and the program will start listening to the track you want to find. Recording a fragment occurs very quickly - it takes less than 10 seconds to determine the artist. Before recording, the application asks for permission to access your microphone.
The search results will show the title of the work, the name of the artist and the album cover. You will also be asked to find a clip or purchase an mp3 file. It will be possible to watch all the songs from this album, listen to short 30-second excerpts to familiarize yourself with the opportunity to purchase the compositions you like.
In order to start searching, just go to the site and download the file with the desired fragment or provide a link to it. The site developers recommend uploading tracks lasting 15 - 45 seconds, but no one forbids you to submit the entire song.
Supports MP3, WAV, OGG formats. At the top of the site there is a button to switch to Russian. If the quality of the passage is low and the robot cannot unambiguously decide on the title, it will offer several options.
The analysis takes place within 20-30 seconds. Unfortunately, if you hear music on the radio, you won’t be able to find it right away. Therefore, you need to have time to record a fragment. The developers claim that the robot will be able to cope even with poor-quality recordings.
As a result of testing, the AudioTag service was able to find all five tracks. He easily coped with both last year's compositions and songs from ten years ago. The only drawback is the need to additionally record an excerpt of the song and upload it to the site.
is a free desktop application. It can be installed under Windows and Mac OS operating systems. After a simple installation, a program window appears with the inscription “Tunatic ready. Click to identify song". Working with it is extremely simple - just press the white button with a magnifying glass while the track is playing. After connecting to the server, the message “Identifying song. Please wait" - this program collects and sends data to the server to search for matches in the database. If your microphone does not work or you cannot hear the music, the message “Signal too weak. Check your microphone." If the song has been identified, the name of the artist and its title will appear.
The testing results are as follows: out of 5 foreign songs, only 3 were found. The search for each track takes about 45 seconds. I can’t say whether this is a pattern or an accident, but tracks older than 2010 could not be identified.
conclusions
Summing up our review, I want to give first place to Shazam for its almost instantaneous recognition, as well as a wide selection of solutions for both desktop computers and almost any mobile device. Second place goes to Midomi, which also quickly and accurately found the proposed tracks, and, in addition, can analyze recordings on the fly without the need to download files. Third place goes to AudioTag for identifying all passages, but with the ability to search only files saved on the computer. The fourth place goes to the Tunatic program for not coping with all the works proposed to it.
