Do You Shazam or Soundhound?

[OneEyedDiva]

Shazam is a smart phone app that listens to whatever song is playing and most times lets you know the name of the song, the artist and on what platform it can be streamed and purchased. A similar app is Soundhound. I was told Shazam is better, so I started using that. These apps also store your inquiry history with clips of the songs if you sign in. I have used it countless times to find out what songs are playing on T.V., in films, when I'm in stores and even in a Casino bathroom one time. I remember reading a comment on SF a while back by someone, who clearly didn't understand the concept, felt that being able to access that information was an invasion of privacy. No! It's a way for we artists to have people know ourr music and possibly buy said music. I'm happy to say I've been Shazam-ed too (didn't realize that until a couple of weeks ago when I Shazam-ed myself.. ). But for one song, they provided a link to someone else's music...why I don't know because the song didn't sound anything like mine.

I remember when I used to have to call the radio station to find out what a song was. One was Hey Nineteen (Steely Dan). Or sit in the car and wait until the deejay announced the artists. That became more difficult when they started playing several songs before giving the artists names or playing long Jazz tunes. I waited almost 10 minutes for Last Summer in Rio (Azymuth).

Some of the songs I Shazam-d and ultimately bought are Big Yellow Taxi (The Counting Crows f/Vanessa Carlton), Game of Love (Santana f/MIchelle Branch) and So Long You Did Me Wrong (Ryan Snow). I heard the latter in the opening credits of an episode of Forever and knew within the first few seconds I had to buy it. So have you or would you ever use these apps? @Pecos @MarkinPhx @dobielvr @Blessed @Pinky @Pink Biz @win231 @Nathan

 

[Alligatorob]

The only "Shazam" I know

 

[MarkinPhx]

My Android has an option to do something similar. It's a very handy feature for me. I have discovered many new artist because of this feature.

 

[hollydolly]

I've always used Soundhound, so I can't compare the 2...

 

[Nathan]

@OneEyedDiva , I Shazam! Our fitness instructor has a portable sound system that he streams his Pandora playlist to. I of course recognize the music but frequently don't recall the musician. Shazam IDs the song and musician in just a couple seconds.

 

[hollydolly]

@OneEyedDiva , I Shazam! Our fitness instructor has a portable sound system that he streams his Pandora playlist to. I of course recognize the music but frequently don't recall the musician. Shazam IDs the song and musician in just a couple seconds.

..as does Soundhound!

I might do a comparison of the 2 out of interest

 

[Nathan]

...what's cool is I can access my Shazam Library of songs that the app has ID'd. Of course, you're provided with the 'opportunity' to purchase the song through Apple Music.

 

[hollydolly]

...what's cool is I can access my Shazam Library of songs that the app has ID'd. Of course, you're provided with the 'opportunity' to purchase the song through Apple Music.

I just read Shazam doesn't allow humming or singing a tune.. like Soundhound does

 

[Michael Z]

Sounds like a great app. They rarely indicate the artist of songs over the radio these days.

 

[Happyflowerlady]

I have never used either one, but my daughter uses Shazam. When I listen to music, I use either Spotify or Pandora, and both of those wil identify the song and the musician when the song is being played.
I just have the free version, so it has ads on it.
I also have Amazon Prime, so I have the Amazon Music, and I do listen to that, but not as often.

 

[OneEyedDiva]

I just read Shazam doesn't allow humming or singing a tune.. like Soundhound does

I'll have to check that out later HD. My phone is charging in another room now. I'll let you know.

@Happyflowerlady as I mentioned, I use the app to identify songs I don't know or want to verify who the artist is. I imagine that's what it's primarily used for.
@Nathan Yes, it's impressive how quickly Shazam (and Soundhound) identify the music. It's also amazing that they cut through the background noises to do so most of the time.