Shazam
Shazam is a popular music recognition application that can identify songs, movies, TV shows, and commercials from short audio clips. Users can launch the app, hold their device near a music source to capture a sample, and Shazam will tell them the song title and artist.
Shazam: Music Recognition
Identify songs, movies, TV shows, and commercials from short audio clips with this popular music recognition application
What is Shazam?
Shazam is a music recognition application launched in 1999 that quickly became popular for its ability to identify songs by listening to just a short sample. Users launch the Shazam app, then hold their phone near a music source to capture a clip just a few seconds long. Using a proprietary acoustic fingerprinting algorithm, Shazam compares the clip against its database of over 20 million tracks and tells the user the exact song title and artist in seconds.
One of Shazam's key features that made it stand out when it debuted was the speed and accuracy with which it identified songs. Even very obscure tracks could quickly be named by the app. This created a fun, almost magical feeling for users as they discovered music around them. Over time Shazam expanded beyond just song identification and created additional features around exploring artists, lyrics, videos and recommendations.
Now owned by Apple, Shazam continues to be one of the most popular music recognition apps worldwide. Though many competitors emerged, the huge audio fingerprint database they compiled over decades of operation keeps the Shazam app unmatched in speed and accuracy of song identification.
Shazam Features
Features
- Audio recognition technology to identify songs
- Large music database with over 40 million tracks
- Integration with music services like Spotify to listen to full songs
- Lyrics display to sing along to identified songs
- Music charts to see top and trending songs
- Ability to share identified songs on social media
- Music video playback for select songs
Pricing
- Freemium
- Subscription-Based
Pros
Fast and accurate song recognition
Simple and easy to use interface
Free basic service with no ads
Syncs with Spotify and Apple Music
Provides song lyrics for many tracks
Links to YouTube music videos
Cons
Limited functionality in free version
Occasional misidentification of songs
Requires internet connection to work
Drains phone battery quickly
Paid subscription for unlimited use
Official Links
Reviews & Ratings
Login to Review3.3
★
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12 reviews
Rating Breakdown
Ease of Use
★
★
★
★
★
4.2
Features
★
★
★
★
★
3.3
Value for Money
★
★
★
★
★
3.4
Customer Support
★
★
★
★
★
2.3
Overall Experience
★
★
★
★
★
3.3
Recent Reviews
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Anna Walker
Mar 26, 2026
★
★
★
★
★
This App is Pure Magic!
I've been using Shazam for years and it still feels like magic. It's incredible how it can pick up a song from a bar or a show in seconds, and the history feature is great for building playlists. It rarely …
Avery Smith
Mar 22, 2026
★
★
★
★
★
Used to be great, now it's just another subscription trap
I've been using Shazam for 10 years, but the app has gone steadily downhill. The ads are constant and aggressive, and it takes far too many clicks to get to the core feature. On top of that, it's now incorrectly …
Phoenix Harris
Mar 22, 2026
★
★
★
★
★
Frequently Fails When I Need It Most
It's frustrating how often Shazam fails to identify songs in noisy environments like cafes or during live TV commercials. Even with a clear audio sample, it sometimes gives incorrect matches or doesn't recognize popular tracks at all. The constant ads …
Morgan Thomas
Mar 21, 2026
★
★
★
★
★
My pocket music detective
Shazam is an absolute game-changer for anyone who loves music. I use it constantly when I hear a catchy song in a café, store, or on TV—it identifies tracks in seconds with scary accuracy. The integration with Apple Music and …
M
Morgan Lee
Mar 20, 2026
★
★
★
★
★
Works great... until it doesn't
When Shazam works, it's pure magic—I've discovered dozens of new artists from just hearing a snippet in a cafe. However, it's become increasingly unreliable; sometimes it fails to identify songs even in quiet environments, and the app crashes more than …
Rating Distribution
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