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 December 08, 2020
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, 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:

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

  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.
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