Have you ever had a tune with you but couldn’t figure out the name of the song it’s from? If you’ve ever tried to chase the source of the tune, then the chances are that you have probably used Shazam.
Shazam is very popular music and audio-identifying application. Shazam helps you find the song or track if you have a small piece of sample audio from it. It works by gathering the audio sample through the device’s microphone and searching through its database to find the perfect match.
Owned by Apple today, this helpful app is available to download on Android, Windows, and iOS devices. You can also play music through the headphones, and Shazam would be able to recognize it.
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It also displays charts from different countries and cities. It allows you to discover and find trending songs in your area. Shazam contains no ads and has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to navigate. Then why are the alternatives needed?
Why look for Shazam alternatives?
Shazam comes out as a top pick when it comes to music recognition apps. However, it has its downsides too. Firstly, you need a piece of the original song or audio for Shazam to identify it correctly. It cannot detect the song if you sing or hum into it. This is an inconvenience as we may not always have a piece of the original audio with us.
Tagging songs are also possible, but they cannot be marked for future references. User reviews have also mentioned that Shazam cannot identify some songs; as they may not be in the app’s database. Music has a lot of genres, and Shazam fails to identify songs from each genre.
Hence, it might be a good idea to look at some alternatives for Shazam. You could find apps that can do the same job just like Shazam, if not better. Our countdown for some of the best Shazam alternatives, also some other online alternatives, are given below.
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Best Shazam alternatives
You can find equally competent alternatives to Shazam for free on both Android and iOS. Our top picks for you are:
SoundHound
SoundHound is probably one of the best options to pick in this category. A feature that makes SoundHound stand out from the rest of its contenders is identifying a song being sung or hummed. You could hum the tune stuck in your head into SoundHound, and it will recognize the song! This perk alone makes it more convenient to use.
The app features an excellent design and user interface that makes it more appealing. It also allows the user to find song lyrics. It has a voice assistant called Hound that reacts to voice commands. It also has top charts and weekly song features.
The free version of SoundHound is free for all users, while they contain unremovable ads. The paid version gets rid of the ads and enables a couple of other features. It is available on Android, iOS, and Windows.
MusiXMatch
MusiXMatch is another popular Shazam alternative. This music-recognizing app is a good competitor for both Shazam and SoundHound. On MusiXMatch, you can find lyrics to any of the songs that you want to listen to. It also allows you to play lyrics simultaneously while streaming music from popular platforms like YouTube and Spotify.
You can also view the lyrics onscreen in different languages. It also has a different system that allows certain users to provide and change lyrics to songs and contribute to the community. It is available for free on Android, iOS, and Windows, and upgrading to premium can give you access to features such as offline lyrics saving and no ads.
Genius
The Genius app allows you to find the song you’re looking for amidst a database of millions of songs. It also gives heavy emphasis on the lyrics of the song. The lyrics can be viewed on genius while the song is streamed on supported apps like YouTube. An incredible perk that comes along with the Genius app is that it provides a brief insight into the backstory of the song or artist.
You can also watch videos and interviews of artists on this app. It is available on both Android and iOS. Genius is a good pick if you need good lyric support along with song identification.
MusicID
MusicID is also a good pick as an alternative for the Shazam app. It is a simple app that helps you identify the song you want to know. It will also show details of the song or artist that could help you gain insight. Unlike other alternative apps for Shazam, MusicID provides a vast collection of album arts. This app also lets you add notes and location IDs to your favourite music or song. Last but not least, MusicID provides you with a good array of artists’ bio.
Shazam alternatives online
The easiest way to identify a song quickly would be to play the song into Google Assistant or Siri on iOS. Both will soon come up with accurate results. However, some platforms provide music recognition services online. Given below are some of the best music recognition services that the internet has to offer:
Midomi
Midomi is probably the most popular online song-identifying service. Powered by SoundHound, this platform does not require to be downloaded to do its job. You can just Google ‘Midomi’, and the site pops up; it’s that simple! Midomi has an interface similar to the SoundHound app, and all you need to do is play the piece of audio, sing or hum while it records, and it will identify the song for you.
ACRCloud
ACRCloud is another online alternative to Shazam that works equally well. This site has a huge database of songs and tracks from which it can reference and recognize music from. The fact that this service can be accessed online for free makes it a convenient alternative. Apart from recognizing songs, this platform also provides the solution to copyright compliance, data deduplication, and other monitoring services.
WatZatSong
WatZatSong is a free online platform that encourages its users to identify the songs. You can just play, sing or hum into WatZatSong, and the community will pitch in to help you identify the song. Similarly, you can also connect with others on the site and help them recognize the songs you know.
AudioTag
AudioTag is another free online service that can be considered as a perfect Shazam alternative. It identifies songs and also lets you put direct links to music tracks. You can upload an audio file to the website, and then it will try to recognize the tracks in it.
You can upload audio in any format. After you upload the file, its algorithm starts analyzing it. The website also allows you to upload videos.
These are some of the best Shazam alternatives that we recommend you to try out.
If you know of any other apps or websites that we have missed out on this list, write it down below. Also, let us know about the apps you liked the most from the above list. Have fun!
