How to search for a song without knowing the title on smartphones and tablets
Let's see first how to search for a song without knowing the title on smartphones and tablets, taking advantage of the virtual assistants of Google and Apple, as well as a well-known app useful for the purpose.
Google Assistant (Android)
If you have a device Android, you can find the title of a song using theGoogle Assistant that, taking advantage of the proprietary service Sound Search (which is based on the database of Shazam, which I'll tell you about later), is perfect for the purpose in question.
Recall, therefore, the Google Assistant by pressing the icon of theassistant or on the symbol of microphone post Google search bar present on the home screen. Alternatively, long press the key Home device in use or, again, say the voice command "OK, Google" (if you have activated it).
At this, say the voice command "What is this song?" and move the device closer to the source that is playing the song. You can also hum the song, if you have no way to play it: in the vast majority of cases, in fact, the Google Assistant will be able to recognize the song without problems.
When a song is recognized, in addition to the title, some additional information may be indicated, such as the year of release, the album it belongs to, the lyrics, etc.
Siri (iOS / iPadOS)
You have a iPhone or iPad? Well, in that case you can use Crab, the virtual assistant of Apple that integrates Shazam, the famous music recognition service that I have already mentioned before (and which I will talk about later), which among other things was acquired by Apple.
To use this, launch Siri using voice command "Hey Siri" (if you have activated the option in the menu Settings> General> Siri) or by pressing and holding the side button on iPhones and iPads with Face ID or by pressing and holding the button Home on iPhones and iPads with a physical Home button.
Once you've called Siri, say the phrase "What song is this?": Apple's voice assistant should be able to recognize the song within a few seconds. If so, a tab will open containing the title and artist of the song: by pressing on the tab, it will be possible to listen to it via Apple Music.
Please note: you could also install the Google Assistant on iPhone and iPad, in the form of an app, but with Siri already integrated into iOS / iPadOS I recommend using that.
Shazam (Android / iOS / iPadOS)
In the previous chapters I mentioned a Shazam, one of the most trusted and used music recognition services in the world. The official Shazam app is free, very easy to use and available for all major mobile platforms: Android and iOS / iPadOS.
Explaining how it works is almost superfluous. After installing and starting the app, press the button depicting the Stylized "S", which is in the center and, after giving it access to the microphone, place the device close to the source where the sound is coming from. If he will be able to identify the song of your interest, in the new screen opened you will see not only the title of the latter, but also the name of the artist or the band and you can listen to it on services such as Spotify, Apple Music, etc.
If you want, by going to the app settings (the gear icon) you can also activate the function to activate the recognition of the songs directly when starting Shazam, without having to press the appropriate button.
The songs found by the app are all collected in the tab library (reachable from the main screen of the app). To underline also the presence of "shortcuts" to recall Shazam in a faster way. Up Android, for example, there is an app widget that can be added to the smartphone home screen and allows you to activate listening by the application with a simple “tap”.
Su iPhone e iPadInstead, Shazam is included directly in Siri, as I already explained to you in the previous chapter. If you want more information on how Shazam works, take a look at the tutorial I just linked to you.
How to search for a song without knowing the title on a computer
Now I would say to see how to search for a song without knowing the title on a computer, using some useful solutions for this purpose. I'll list some of them below: make good use of them!
Midomi (Online)
Find a song whose title you do not know from the computer is a doable thing with Midomi, a free website (license plate SoundHound), which allows you to find out the title of a song simply by humming it in front of the PC microphone. It works on all major browsers and operating systems and, to use it, you don't need to install programs on your PC.
To try Midomi, all you have to do is connect to its main page and first click on pulsating giallo which is located in the top center and up Allow to authorize the site to use the microphone of your PC. Now, hum or whistle a piece of the song whose title you want to find out, or bring the device on which the song is playing close to your computer and wait for it to be recognized.
The searches carried out by Midomi are usually very accurate, so within a few seconds you will see a page appear with the title of the song being played or a group of three or four songs that could correspond to the latter. Then click on the button Play placed next to the cover of the song found and find out if it is really the song you were looking for by listening to a short preview. I also point out that in addition to the song title, there may be other additional information, such as the text, the album, as well as links to buy or listen to the song on the main platforms.
AudioTag (Online)
Another solution I recommend you try is AudioTag, a free online service characterized by an intuitive and minimal interface that allows you to access a database with millions of tracks belonging to the most varied categories.
It allows you to identify a song, which can be played or simply hummed for a recommended duration of 15-45 seconds. To proceed, however, I point out that the song must be recorded in advance (if you do not know how to do it, I recommend reading the in-depth information in which I explain in detail how to record the voice) and must be in one of the main audio formats eg. MP3, WAV, MPEG-1, FLAC, Etc.).
After connecting to the AudioTag home page, using the link I provided, click on the button Select or drop file, and upload the track of your interest. Once the upload is complete, click on the box I'm not a robotclick on your button Analyze located under the window and then access the page Recognition results. In this way, you will be able to see not only the title of the song, but also some additional information that may be available, such as the name of the artist, the name of the album, the year of publication, etc.
Shazam (macOS)
Shazam is also available as an application for MacOS (it was once also available for Windows, but now it is not anymore).
To use it, visit this page of the Mac App Store and click on the button View in the Mac App Store. In the opened MAS window, click on the button Get / Install the app which is on the right and, if necessary, confirms the operation using the Password Apple ID or the touch ID.
At this point, after installing and starting the application, click on the Shazam icon in the macOS menu bar (top right) and click on the button depicting the Stylized "S". The software will automatically pick up all the songs played nearby and list them in its main menu (which can be recalled by clicking on its icon in the Mac menu bar). More comfortable than that ?!
Siri (macOS)
If you have one Mac, know that you can be able to recognize a song using Crab, Apple's virtual assistant, which I already told you about in the chapter dedicated to iPhone and iPad. Even on the computers of the "bitten apple", in fact, it is possible to ask Siri the title of a song being played and the assistant will take care of the rest.
Provide, therefore, to launch Siri by clicking on his icon present your bar Dock, in Launchpad or in the menu bar of macOS (top right) and say the sentence "What song is this?". If the song is playing, Siri should be able to recognize it. Simple, right?
Other useful solutions
If the solutions I listed above did not satisfy you 100% or, in any case, you go in search of other systems to find the songs without knowing the title, I try to give you some other ideas that could be useful.
- Google - by searching on Google with parts of the lyrics of the song, perhaps in quotation marks if you are sure you remember the exact sequence of the words, you may be able to find it quite easily. There are in fact many sites with song lyrics available online.
- YouTube - the same speech just made for Google also applies to YouTube, which also gives the advantage of being able to quickly listen to any songs found (in the form of videos, of course).
- Apple Music - Apple's Music application (and consequently the Apple Music service) for iPhone, iPad and Mac allow you to search for songs by text. Convenient, right?
