Software & Apps Apps How to Shazam a Song That's Already on Your Phone Identify songs in mashups and mixtapes the easy way by Mark Harris Writer 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. our editorial process Mark Harris Updated on December 08, 2020 reviewed by Kayla Dube Lifewire Tech Review Board Member Kayla Dube has 4+ years' experience in videography and filmmaking. She frequently works in production with indie film companies. our review board Article reviewed on Aug 26, 2020 Kayla Dube Apps Best Apps Payment Services Tweet Share Email What to Know Launch the Shazam app, then launch your music app and select a track you want to identify.Next, switch back to Shazam and tap the capture button. You'll see the song's title and info, and Shazam adds it to your Tags list.Tip: Tap the Shazam Tags menu to see the list of tracks you identified. This article explains how to use Shazam to identify music playing on your mobile device instead of music from an external sound source. Instructions cover the Shazam app for iOS, Android, or Windows Phone. Using Shazam to Identify a Song Playing on Your Device If you haven't got this free app installed, then download it for your particular operating system. Here are some direct download links for your convenience: iOS version of ShazamShazam for AndroidShazam on Windows Phone Miguel Co / Lifewire Launch the Shazam app. This needs to be running in the background before you start playing any music. Now you'll need to run your favorite music playing app on your device. Select the unknown track you want Shazam to listen to and start playing it. 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 on the capture button. After a few seconds, you should see a result. As soon as this happens the information will be added to your Shazam tags list. If you've got an audio file that contains several songs, then you can simply tap on the capture button every time a new song starts to play. After you have finished playing all the unknown songs on your phone, you can view a list of the tracks that were identified by tapping on the Tags menu in the app. Selecting one in the list will give you the option to buy the track from the iTunes Store, but you can also stream the whole song by using Spotify or Deezer. Tips If you have problems identifying songs, then try increasing the volume on your device. Sometimes Shazam won't be able to hear a song playing if the microphone doesn't pick up the sound.Another way to solve the problem of Shazam not hearing songs correctly is to use earbuds or headphones. Once connected, hold the earbuds right next 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.If you choose to stream identified tracks using Spotify or Deezer then you will need the relevant apps installed on your device. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up. Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit