Shazam identifies a song by creating a unique digital fingerprint to match what you’re hearing with one of the millions of songs in the Shazam database.
Use the Shazam app
If you have the Shazam app installed on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac, you can use the app to identify music and save them to your library.
- Open the Shazam app on your device.
- Tap or click the Shazam button to identify what’s playing around you.
When Shazam identifies the song, it’s saved in My Music, along with all your other previous Shazams.
After you identify a song, you can connect to Apple Music and other music services to listen to your Shazam.
Shazam helps you identify the music or media by listening to it. If you don't know the title of the song you are listening to, you will be able to identify it in a matter of seconds by using Shazam. Not only can you identify music or other types of media with it, but you can also share it to your friends or buy it. Apple-owned Shazam is the most popular music-identification service in the world. Starting with iOS 14.2, your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch can identify music playing around you or in apps via Shazam-powered music recognition available from the Control Center. Recognize Music by Recording Online Identify songs by sound like Shazam, Genius and Musixmatch (which integrates ACRCloud Music Recognition Services). Play some music and click the button to recognize songs now. Please use Chrome, Firfox or Opera and allow our site to use your microphone.
If you don’t have an internet connection, the app still creates a unique digital fingerprint to match against the Shazam database the next time your device is connected to the internet. If a song can’t be identified, it will disappear from your pending Shazams.
Use Auto Shazam
To have Shazam automatically identify what’s playing around you, touch and hold (or double-click on Mac) the Shazam button . When Auto Shazam is on, Shazam matches what you’re hearing with songs in the Shazam database—even when you switch to another app. Shazam never saves or stores what it hears.
You can then find the Shazams identified with Auto Shazam in My Music, grouped together by date.
To turn off Auto Shazam, tap or click the Shazam button.
Shazam Identify Music Key
Use Shazam in Control Center on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
You can Shazam songs right from Control Center on your iPhone or on your iPad.* To add Shazam to Control Center, go to Settings > Control Center, then tap the Add button next to Music Recognition.
To identify songs from Control Center, tap the Shazam button to identify what's currently playing on your device or around you. Shazam can identify songs playing on your device even if you're using headphones.
* Requires iOS or iPad OS 14.2 or later.
More ways to identify music
- On iPhone or iPad, say “Hey Siri,” then ask what the song is.
- On iPhone or iPad, add the Shazam widget to identify music in the Today View.
- Use Shazam on your Apple Watch to Shazam tracks.
- To identify music from the menu bar of your Mac, get Shazam for Mac from the Mac App Store.
- On HomePod, say “Hey Siri, Shazam this song.”
- Use the Shazam It action to add music recognition to your Shortcuts.
See your previous Shazams
You can see your previous Shazams in the Shazam app on your device and online when you create a Shazam account.
- On iPhone or iPad, swipe up on the main Shazam screen to access My Music.
- On Mac, recent Shazams appear below the Shazam button.
- On Apple Watch, recent Shazams appear below the Shazam button, and are also saved to My Music on the paired iPhone.
- To access your Shazams on your other Apple devices and online at shazam.com/myshazam, you can save your Shazams in iCloud. This also ensures that you won't lose your Shazams if something happens to your device.
Change your settings
In the Shazam app, swipe up to My Music from the main Shazam screen, then tap the Settings button to adjust Shazam settings:
Can Shazam Identify Classical Music
- Control Notifications from Shazam.
- To have Shazam automatically start listening when the app is opened, turn on “Shazam on app start.”
- Use iCloud to back up your Shazams.
Microphone settings on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
Find A Song Shazam
Shazam needs access to the microphone on your device to hear what you're listening to. On iPhone or iPad, open Settings, scroll down to the installed apps and tap Shazam, then turn on Microphone. If you don’t see an option for Microphone, you might have restrictions turned on for Privacy settings.
Shazam Identify Music App
Get help
Shazam Music Identifier Online
Learn more
- Use Shazam on Android devices.
- You can create a Shazam account to keep track of all your Shazams and view them on www.shazam.com/myshazam.
- In addition to Apple Music, you can connect Shazam to other services like Snapchat and Spotify.
- Learn about Shazam's Terms & Conditions.
- Learn about Shazam and privacy.