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 on June 04, 2021
reviewed by
Kayla Dube headshot
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.
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Article reviewed on Aug 26, 2020
Kayla Dube

What to Know

  • Launch the Shazam app, select a track you want to identify from your music app, and tap the Shazam button.
  • View the song's title and info and past Shazams from My Music > Shazams on iOS and the Shazam Library on Android.

This article explains how to use Shazam to identify music playing on your mobile device instead of music from an external source.

Instructions cover the iOS version of Shazam and Shazam for Android.

Person using Shazam to figure out music from the TV

Lifewire / Miguel Co

Use Shazam to Identify a Song Playing on Your Device

If you haven't installed this free app, first download it for your operating system and launch it.

The Shazam app needs to be running in the background before you start playing music.

  1. Launch the Shazam app.

  2. Open your preferred music app and select and play the unknown track you want Shazam to identify. 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 the Shazam button. After a few seconds, you should see information about the song title and artist.

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

  4. If you have an audio file that contains several songs, tap the Shazam button every time a new song starts to play.

View and Listen to Your Shazams

After you finish playing the unknown songs on your phone, view a list of the tracks the app identified by viewing your Shazam history. The Shazam app saves all identified song information to your Shazam Library on Android and My Music > Shazams on iOS.

Select a song from your list of identified songs to hear the track in the Apple Music Store. You can also stream the whole song by using Spotify, Deezer, or YouTube Music on Android.

If you choose to stream identified tracks using Spotify or Deezer, the relevant apps must be installed on your device.

Set Up Auto Shazam

Open and run the Shazam app to identify songs on a case-by-case basis. If you'd like Shazam to listen in the background and determine what it hears, turn on Auto Shazam.

  • On iOS: Select the Settings icon and move the toggle to the on position next to Shazam on app start. Alternatively, long-press the Shazam icon to turn it on.
  • On Android: Select and hold the Shazam app icon and tap Auto Shazam.

Troubleshooting Tips

If you have problems identifying songs, try these fixes:

  • Increase the volume on your device: Sometimes Shazam won't hear a song playing if the microphone doesn't pick up the sound.
  • Use headphones: Another way to solve the problem of Shazam not hearing songs is to use earbuds or headphones. Once connected, hold the earbuds next to 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.
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