Shazam: Music Discovery

Category

Description of App

Shazam is one of the world’s most popular apps, used by more than 100 million people each month to identify music, get song lyrics, and now to discover
the music that artists discover themselves.

"Shazam is an app that feels like magic" --Techradar.com

Identify music instantly and share in the thrill of music discovery with the artists you love.

See what top artists like Calvin Harris, Pitbull, Meghan Trainor, Avicii, Jason Derulo, Wiz Khalifa and others are Shazaming.

• New discoveries from artists you’ve Shazamed appear automatically
• Follow new artists with a tap of a button and see what those artists are Shazaming
• Stay up-to-date about new singles, albums, and videos from the artists you follow

KEY FEATURES
• Shazam TV shows to discover soundtracks, the cast, special offers and more
• Enjoy music lyrics and YouTube videos
• Preview songs with Apple Music and add them to Rdio and Spotify playlists *
• Launch Pandora radio based on artists you discover *
• With Auto Shazam we'll keep finding tunes for you even when you leave the app

DISCOVER & BUY
• Stay in the loop with Shazam’s real time charts
• Quick links to Apple Music and the iTunes store
• Connect Rdio or Spotify to play full tracks in Shazam
• Check out recommended tracks to discover new music
• Find out what’s popular in your town, your country and the world
• Start an Apple Music radio station based on tracks you've Shazamed

CONNECT & SHARE
• See what your friends are Shazaming when you connect your Facebook account
• Share your discoveries through Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Pinterest, Google+ and more...

SHAZAM FROM YOUR WATCH
• Launch Shazam on your Apple Watch for the artist, song, and lyrics that unfold with the music
• See your past Shazams at a glance with a simple swipe up
• Use Handoff on Apple Watch and iPhone to buy the song on iTunes, watch videos, and much more
• Turn on Auto Shazam and we’ll keep finding tunes for you

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
• Shazam visual recognition gets you more - tap the camera icon to Shazam posters, magazines or books; anywhere where you see the Shazam camera logo
• Visual recognition also works as a QR code reader
• Buy tickets to see your favorite artists in concert

Use Shazam as much as you like – it’s unlimited. Don’t want the advertising? Upgrade to Shazam Encore

OTHER INFO
• Previewing and buying music requires the iTunes music store in your country
• Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life

* Some features are location, device and app version dependent

Any questions or feedback? Check out: https://support.shazam.com

 

Version

8.9.0

Free or Paid

Free

Apple Watch Support

Yes

Device(s) App Was Tested On

iPhone

iOS Version

8.4.1

Accessibility Comments

Not very VoiceOver accessible to use. Many of the key elements are missing or don't work. There are buttons that are unlabeled. It will identify songs and you can see the results but all other features are almost completely inaccessible.

VoiceOver Performance

VoiceOver reads a few page elements.

Button Labeling

Most buttons are clearly labeled.

Usability

There are some accessibility issues with this app, but it can still be used if you are willing to tolerate these issues and learn how to work around them.

Developer's Twitter Username

@Shazam

Options

Comments

By AnonyMouse on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 - 19:45

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team
Much more accissable than the previous releases. What's New in Version 5.0.0 ○ Lightning fast tagging and recognition ○ Instant listening on start-up ○ Start-up time over a second quicker ○ Editable tweets – as requested! (iOS5) ○ Smoother, more responsive navigation and scrolling ○ Shazam Friends feed works faster ○ Improved sync on LyricPlay - see streaming lyrics in time to the music
Version 5.0.6 was released in the App Store today. It is still accessible. What's New in Version 5.0.6 ○ Improved recognition rate ○ Faster application startup time New: ○ Invite Friends – now there’s an easy way to invite friends to share their discoveries Numerous bug fixes, including: ○ Crash fixes (including an occasional crash while tagging) ○ Fixed an audio capture issue that would sometimes cause repeated 'No Match' results until the app was restarted ○ Improved messaging around tagging issues (We hear you - it’s not always a Connection Issue!) Note: We are still investigating a reported periodic tagging screen UI glitch and expect a fix in the near future

By Gerardo on Monday, December 24, 2012 - 19:45

OKI?m recording a fragment of the song with Shazam, but how to tell Shazam to stop and send the song, or does it automatically stop after a certain time and send off the song to see who sings it and other info? In Setting Icouldn't find anything related, like in Dragon Dictate, to automatically stop Shazam upon certain number of seconds of silence! thanks for info.
○ All new Tagging screen that responds to the sounds around you ○ Tagging without coverage? Shazam now matches automatically when you next have a connection ○ Search My Tags – scroll up to the top of the My Tags to search for artists, titles, tag dates and tag locations ○ Share tags on Google+ ○ For VoiceOver users, Shazam now has a “magic tap”: start tagging immediately with a two-finger double-tap from anywhere in the app Fixes & Improvements: ○ Pull to Refresh restored to Shazam Friends ○ Sharing Tags on Facebook now uses the iOS native sharing screen

By AnonyMouse on Friday, May 24, 2013 - 19:45

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

What's New in Version 6.0.0
Explore the world with Shazam’s interactive maps. Zoom from your current location to cities, countries and continents across the globe to discover what’s popular.
Welcome iPad users: Shazam is now a universal app – we have some awesome new features coming first to the iPad:
○ Auto Tagging: When Shazam is running it tags music and media around you – like songs featured in a TV show or music playing on your device.
○ Shazam even runs in the background and tags while you check your emails or play a game.
○ Dynamic new home screen: Browse real time updates of what’s being tagged on TV right now (US only) and the hottest music tracks globally.
○ Flip through your recent matches - add the ones you like to your favorites
 

By Misty Dawn on Monday, June 24, 2013 - 19:45

OK, so, Shazam identifies music like SoundHound, right? How accessible is that part of it?

By David Goodwin on Wednesday, July 24, 2013 - 19:45

What's New in Version 6.2.0 
  • Multi-track purchase: When you've tagged a bunch of songs, now it's easy to go back and buy them in one go. Go to My Tags (or Favorites on iPad), tap "Select & Buy", pick the songs you want, then tap "Buy" to purchase in iTunes.
  • Recommendations: Discover more music based on similar tracks other Shazamers have bought. Shazam any track or find old ones in My Tags, then tap ""Recommendations"".
  • Music Previews: Added loads more previews for tracks you Shazam and trending music in the Pulse charts.
  • Accessibility: Improved Voiceover on iPhone.
  • Sharing is caring: Made it easier to tweet and share on Facebook, or to e-mail music and TV results.

By AnonyMouse on Tuesday, September 24, 2013 - 19:45

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team
What's New in Version 6.2.1

○ Much faster recognition, especially on the iPhone 4 and 3GS.
○ Better recognition in difficult environments.
○ Now when you tweet, your followers can play previews right in Twitter through our Twitter Card.
○ Explore charts are more dynamic, showing you what's hot in the last seven days.
○ New TV experiences (US only).

By AnonyMouse on Tuesday, December 24, 2013 - 19:45

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team
What's New in Version 7.3.0 New for iPhone and iPod touch: ○ Auto Shazam does the hard work for you by continuously recognizing popular music and TV around you. Flip the switch on the Shazam home screen to turn on Auto Shazam, and automatically recognize while you commute or watch a movie, even if you leave the Shazam app or lock your phone. New for all users: ○ Share Shazam Tags with friends on WhatsApp ○ Pin Shazam tags to your favourite Pinterest boards ○ Share Shazam Tags using iOS Messages Fixes: ○ The app will not ask to use your location again if you have previously said no

By alex wallis on Tuesday, December 24, 2013 - 19:45

Hi, how do you enable the speed tagging feature? I have looked all over the home screen but can't see a switch to make shazam continuously listen as I believe is possible. Is this switch simply not accessible to VoiceOver or is there some weird and wonderful trick to find it? as when I flick over the home screen I can see normal options for tagging but that's about it on the tagging front.
Hi Alex. I just had a look there and there is a switch at the top of the screen to the right hand side, or if you flick left from the Start Tagging button. It's labelled "Auto". I assume this is the one we're looking for. If it's not there for you are you definitely on the newest version? Or could it be a feature that is only available in iOS7 due to the new background app abilities?

By Santiago on Tuesday, December 24, 2013 - 19:45

Hello, I believe it might be an iOS 7 only feature, since many apps are adding these new features for the new operating system. Apple is also requiring all developers to update their apps for iOS 7 compatebility by Febuary.
Hi, I think the auto switch is what I am looking for. But it doesn't seem to be visible on my screen, I am running the latest ios on my 5s, and I have location services on for the app. I installed it fresh from the app store today. I guess all I can try is deleting it and downloading it again.

By Mike Freeman on Monday, November 24, 2014 - 19:45

Hi. I haven't found the "Shazam" button to get the app to start listening as the screen implies one can. I do not want autoShazam. Frankly, all these apps these days -- Shazam, SoundHound, etc. -- are into the social networking scene which I abhor. I wish there were an app that simply would identify music. Period. Nothing else. No lyrics, no sharing, no tagging -- just identify music.

I suppose that's too much to hope for! :-)

By Brooke on Monday, November 24, 2014 - 19:45

I do use Siri to identify music; but I agree with you, Mike. I hate the fact those apps have all implemented so much of social media. When I used those apps, all I wanted was to identify a song, not share it with a hundred people or see what everyone else in the world was tagging.

By Jessica Brown on Monday, August 24, 2015 - 19:45

Hi. The latest update says it makes VoiceOver better, but it actually almost completely breaks VoiceOver Support. Do not update!

By AnonyMouse on Monday, August 24, 2015 - 19:45

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

Ironically, the release notes mentions VoiceOver changes but sadly have made this release very horrible for VoiceOver users to use. Thanks for the folks that have brought me to this attention. You will find some of the features will work but a lot of problems has occured in this update.

What's New in Version 8.9.0

We’ve made some VoiceOver changes to make Shazaming easier for those using Apple’s Accessibility features.

We’ve also tweaked the news feed. Head to home and scroll for new music from the artists you’ve Shazamed.

By Jessica Brown on Monday, August 24, 2015 - 19:45

Hi. I just whent to shazam.com and tried to tell them about VoiceOver in there latest update, but I could not find any contact us or support links.

By Kelly Sapergia on Monday, August 24, 2015 - 19:45

I updated to the latest version of this app. While it's true that the tabs and other things have disappeared, I personally am not bothered by this. To me the stuff that was there was just a lot of clutter, or at least of no interest. As long as it can identify a song for me, that's really all I care about.

By Jessica Brown on Thursday, September 24, 2015 - 19:45

Hi. There was an update today to bring iOS 9 compatibility and bring back VoiceOver support. It still works on iOS 8 as well. I know this because I have not updated to iOS 9 yet.

By Ekaj on Friday, June 24, 2022 - 19:45

I've heard about this app from a few sighted people, and one even demonstrated it in her car. Then last year or so I read that this worked with the shortcuts app and the Shazam app was no longer necessary or something like that. So I tried enabling it on my iPhone 7 and have asked Siri to identify a few tracks. Works pretty well, but Siri seems unable to identify tracks if another app such as Safari is open. Anyone else experienced this?