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Shazam logo

Shazam

Free music recognition app that identifies songs playing around you, with lyrics, charts, concerts and a ShazamKit SDK.

Free

What is Shazam?

Shazam is a music recognition service owned by Apple that tells you which song is playing around you. You tap the Shazam button, and the app creates a digital fingerprint of the audio and matches it against the Shazam database. Auto Shazam can keep listening in the background until you turn it off, and identified songs are saved in a Library that can sync across devices and back up to iCloud. After a match you can preview the track, follow time-synced lyrics, watch music videos through Apple Music or YouTube, or add the song to an Apple Music or Spotify playlist. The service is built into iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch through Music Recognition, is available as an app on iOS and Android, and has a Chrome extension. The site also publishes charts and concert listings, and ShazamKit lets developers add audio recognition and custom audio catalogs to their own apps. The app is free to download, and the vendor lists no paid plans.

Use cases

  • Identify a song playing nearby
  • Save identified songs to a library
  • Follow synced lyrics while listening
  • Add discoveries to Apple Music or Spotify playlists
  • Find concerts for artists you identify
  • Add audio recognition to an app

Who it's for

  • Music listeners
  • Apple device users
  • App developers
  • Radio and DJ app makers

Why use Shazam

  • It is free to download and use, and the vendor lists no paid plans.
  • Built-in access through Control Center and Siri makes identifying a song a one-tap action on Apple devices.
  • Your Library keeps identified songs, so you can return to them after changing devices.
  • Connecting a streaming service turns a match into a playlist entry or a full listen.
  • Developers can reuse the recognition technology in their own apps through ShazamKit.

Shazam features

  • Song identification from a short audio clip
  • Auto Shazam background listening
  • Library of identified songs with iCloud backup
  • Time-synced lyrics
  • Music videos through Apple Music or YouTube
  • Playlist add for Apple Music and Spotify
  • Charts and concert listings
  • Control Center shortcut on iPhone, iPad and Mac
  • Pop Up Shazam and notification shortcut on Android
  • ShazamKit for developers

Shazam integrations

  • Apple Music
  • Spotify
  • YouTube
  • iCloud

How to get started with Shazam

  1. Open the Shazam app, or use Music Recognition from Control Center or Siri.
  2. Tap the Shazam button while music plays, or turn on Auto Shazam to listen continuously.
  3. Shazam fingerprints the audio and matches it against its database.
  4. Preview the song, read lyrics, find concerts or add it to your playlists.

Shazam limitations

  • Playing full songs inside Shazam needs Apple Music or another connected streaming service
  • Recognition matches recorded music in its catalog rather than generating audio

Shazam pricing

Shazam is free to use.

Prices can change and may vary by country or exclude tax. Check the official pricing page.

Shazam alternatives

The main Shazam alternatives listed on Debuly are Google Flow Music, LANDR, Loudly, MusicGPT, Pozalabs and Stable Audio. The table compares pricing and platforms; order is A–Z.

Shazam compared with its alternatives
ToolPricingStarting pricePlatforms
ShazamFree—iOS, Android, macOS, Apple Watch
Google Flow MusicFreemium$6/moWeb, iOS
LANDRPaid$8.25/moWeb
LoudlyPricing unknown—Web, API
MusicGPTFreemium—Web, API
PozalabsFreemium—Web
Stable AudioPricing unknown—Web, API
  1. Google Flow Music

    Chat-based AI music studio that makes full songs with vocals, music videos and remixes, with a free plan and paid tiers from $6 a month.

  2. LANDR

    AI music mastering, distribution to 150+ streaming platforms, samples, plugins and collaboration in one subscription.

  3. Loudly

    AI music platform with a music generator, text-to-music, remixer, stem splitter, distribution to streaming services and a developer API.

  4. MusicGPT

    AI music and audio platform with song generation, voice tools, stem splitting and a pay-per-request API.

  5. Pozalabs

    Pozalabs is a Korean AI music company behind LAIVE for generating songs, Viodio background music and custom B2B soundtracks.

  6. Stable Audio

    Stability AI's music and sound generator with a multi-track deck, audio-to-audio editing, a DAW plugin and an API, billed in credits.

Shazam FAQ

Is Shazam free?

Yes. The Shazam app is free to download on iOS and Android, and no paid plans are listed. Playing full songs requires an Apple Music or other streaming subscription.

How much does Shazam cost?

The app itself costs nothing to download. Full-length playback happens through a connected streaming service such as Apple Music, which has its own subscription.

Which devices does Shazam work on?

It runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, on Android, and as a Chrome browser extension.

Does Shazam have an API or developer tools?

Yes. ShazamKit lets developers add music recognition and build custom audio catalogs for Apple platforms and Android.

Can Shazam work in the background?

Yes. Auto Shazam keeps trying to identify songs around you until you switch it off, and results are grouped by date in your Library.

What are alternatives to Shazam?

Alternatives for identifying songs include SoundHound, Google's Hum to Search and Sound Search, and Musixmatch. On Debuly, compare Google Flow Music, LANDR and Loudly.

Sources & verification

Facts on this page come from the official sources below, each with the date we read it. Written by Debuly; the vendor did not review this page.

SourceTypeAccessed
shazam.com/official
shazam.com/pricingpricing
support.shazam.com/docs
shazam.com/appsofficial
shazam.com/shazamkitofficial
shazam.com:443/en-us/appsofficial
shazam.com/myshazamofficial
shazam.com/en-us/appsofficial

Image credits

  • Logo: from assets.shazam.com · fetched · Vendor trademark, used only to identify the product; removed on request
  • Cover: none collected yet, so a generated tile is shown.

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