Use your Apple device to identify what song is playing

Use Music Recognition and the Shazam app across your favorite Apple devices to discover music playing around you.

Use Shazam Music Recognition

Use the Shazam app on iPhone or iPad

Use Siri to identify a song

Find songs that you’ve identified

Sync Shazam across devices and back up songs to iCloud

Use Shazam Music Recognition on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch

Shazam Music Recognition is built into iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. Add Recognize Music to Control Center on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac to quickly identify music. On Apple Watch, use the Music Recognition app to identify songs with Shazam.

When you also have the Shazam app installed on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro, the app:

  • Provides a central place to find songs discovered using Music Recognition on your Apple devices.

  • Lets you connect Shazam to Apple Music or another streaming service to listen to the songs you’ve identified.

  • Gives you more information on artists and songs you've discovered, including concert information, lyrics, and recommendations.

Use Music Recognition on iPhone and iPad

  1. To add Music Recognition to Control Center:

    • Open Control Center on your iPhone or on your iPad, then tap the Add Controls (+) button at the top of the screen.

    • Tap Add a Control, then choose Recognize Music.

  2. To identify a song, open Control Center, then tap the Recognize Music button.

  3. To see a list of songs that you’ve identified, touch and hold the Recognize Music button, then tap History. If you have the Shazam app installed on your device, the Shazam app Library opens.

Use Music Recognition on Mac

You can add Music Recognition to Control Center or the menu bar for faster access.

  1. To add Music Recognition to Control Center and the menu bar:

    • Click Control Center in the menu bar, then click Edit Controls.

    • In the window that opens, click Recognize Music under Sounds. Or enter Recognize Music in the Search Controls field.

    • Drag the Recognize Music control to add it to Control Center or the menu bar.

  2. To identify songs playing around you or on your device when you’re wearing headphones:

    • Open Control Center and click Recognize Music or click the Recognize Music button in the menu bar if you added it.

    • Click Recognize Music.

  3. To see a list of the songs that you’ve identified, click Recognize Music in Control Center or click the Recognize Music button in the menu bar if you added it, then scroll the list.

Use Music Recognition on Apple Watch

  1. Open the Music Recognition app.

  2. Tap your watch face.

  3. To see a list songs that you’ve identified, scroll down. Tap See All to see all the songs you've identified.

Use the Shazam app on iPhone or iPad

With the Shazam app for iPhone and iPad, you can identify songs playing around you manually or automatically. With the Shazam app, you can also:

  • Access songs you’ve identified with the Shazam app and with Shazam Music Recognition on your other Apple devices.

  • Connect Shazam to Apple Music or other supported streaming services so you can listen to full songs with your preferred streaming service.

  • Get information on concerts in your area for artists whose songs you’ve identified, get lyrics for songs you’ve identified, and more.

Get the Shazam app

To get the Shazam app, download it from the App Store on your device. With the Shazam app, you can identify songs manually or automatically.

Identify a song with iPhone or iPad

  1. Open the Shazam app on your iPhone or iPad.

  2. Tap the Shazam button.

  3. Once Shazam has identified a song, tap the play button to listen to a preview of the song. If you have an Apple Music subscription, you can listen to whole songs in Shazam. You can also connect Shazam to other music streaming services that Shazam supports. Learn how to connect your music streaming service to Shazam

  4. To find songs that you’ve identified, tap Library the Shazam app. And if you change or lose a device, you can still access songs that you've identified if they've been backed up to iCloud.

You can switch to other apps while Shazam tries to identify a song. When Shazam identifies the song, you get a notification.

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, Shazam will try to identify the song.

Identify songs automatically

When you turn on Auto Shazam, Shazam automatically tries to identify songs playing around you until you turn it off.

  1. To turn on Auto Shazam, touch and hold the Shazam button.

  2. To turn off Auto Shazam, tap the Shazam button.

  3. To have Shazam automatically start listening when you open the app on iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro, tap My Music at the bottom of the screen, tap the Settings button, then turn on “Shazam on app start.”

On iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro, songs identified with Auto Shazam are grouped together by date in the Library.

Use Siri to identify a song

With your Apple device in close proximity, ask Siri “Hey Siri, what is this song,” or “Hey Siri, identify this song.” Siri uses Shazam Music Recognition to identify songs, so you don't need to install the Shazam app.

If you have multiple Apple devices and they’re all signed in to the same Apple Account, songs identified with Siri appear across all your devices. And if you have the Shazam app on your iPhone or iPad, songs you’ve identified with Siri appear in the Library.

Find your songs

  • In the Shazam app on iPhone or iPad, tap Library at the bottom of the screen. To delete a song, tap the More button next to that song, then tap “Remove from Library.”

  • On Apple Watch, scroll down to see recent songs, which appear below the Shazam button and are also saved to your Library on the paired iPhone.

  • To find songs in your Shazam app Library on iPhone or iPad, tap the Search button and enter the name of the song or the artist. You can also search for songs and artists using lyrics.

Sync Shazam across devices and back up songs to iCloud

If your songs don't appear on all your Apple devices or you want to make sure your songs are backed up, try these steps:

  1. Make sure you're signed into the same Apple Account on all your devices.

  2. Check that you have two-factor authentication set up for your Apple Account.

  3. If you use the Shazam app on iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro:

    • Visit the App Store to update to the latest version of the app.

    • Open the Shazam app on your device.

    • Tap the Settings button, then tap iCloud Sync.

  4. Check that your songs are being backed up:

    • On iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro, go to Settings > your name, tap iCloud, then tap See All next to Saved to Cloud. Make sure that Music Recognition is turned on. If you also have the Shazam app, make sure Shazam is turned on.

    • On Mac, choose Apple menu  > System Settings, click Apple Account, click iCloud, then click See All next to Saved to iCloud. Make sure Music Recognition is turned on.

If you choose not to back up your songs in iCloud, they’re still saved on your device. You can back up your songs to iCloud at any time unless you restored your device back to its factory settings or you get a new device.

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