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.
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Mark Harris
Updated November 09, 2019

Most people assume that Shazam is only useful for identifying music from external sound sources. However, the app can also be used to listen to music playing on your portable device. As long as your device keeps the microphone active while you play a song you should be able to use Shazam.

Person using Shazam to figure out music from the TV
Lifewire / Miguel Co

To find out how to do this, follow the tutorial below.

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:

  1. Launch the Shazam app. This needs to be running in the background before you start playing any music.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

    Three iOS screens showing Shazam icon, Tap to Shazam, and found song (Fijate Que Si)

  4. 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.

  5. 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.