How many times have you had a little musical fragment boring into your mind? How many times have you tried to find its origin... without any success? Your goal in reading these lines is very clear: to find out the name of a song without losing your sanity in the process. Well, at NeoTeo we've decided to come to the rescue with a series of options where you can ask others, sing, identify the lyrics, or use artificial intelligence.
It was 15 seconds in a shopping mall (when you could visit them, of course) that essentially ruined my weekend: in one of the stores I heard a very familiar song... too familiar, and I spent the next two days mumbling and humming its lyrics, until in a moment of unexpected clarity, the words manifested themselves: "Boys. Do. Fall. In. Love." The lyrics were the title. Robin Gibb, 1984, from his album "Secret Agent".
Humiliated and embarrassed at not recognizing that classic retro hit from the 80s, I came to a conclusion: there must be an easier way to find out the name of a song. And despite all the firepower at our disposal, millions of people around the world try to solve the same question day after day. So... we have a mission ahead. Just as our readers have learned how to find out the name of a movie, today we return to the attack with a dedicated guide: how to find out the name of a song, using different tools.
Using a mobile app
Beyond all the available alternatives, Shazam remains the number one app for finding out the name of a song. The only catch is that you need a good-quality sample of the melody, and as expected, it tends to prioritize mainstream music, but it does a good job anyway.
By the song's lyrics
Here's where half the world says "just search for it on Google", but if we've learned anything from the Mountain View engine, it's that sometimes it throws out very generic answers. The Song Search portal is entirely dedicated to searching for song names by lyrics, with a more advanced interface, and samples of previous successful results. Maybe someone already searched for that song, and it's there, waiting for you...
Singing the song!
The fact that I have a terrible voice doesn't mean you do too, and if you think you can identify a song by singing a snippet, the SoundHound app will be a great ally. It works essentially the same way as Shazam, but singing or humming will work. It also has very interesting options for discovering new music.
Asking the community
If the "mechanical" ears fail, why not trust a human? This is especially useful when the song to identify comes from a commercial, a little-known series, or another unusual origin. "Wat Zat Song?" barely requires creating an account and uploading a small sample. The clearer it is, the greater the chances of getting its name. And you can contribute by solving other users' questions!
With an extension
Does a YouTuber use a great song but not share its name? Does an old video without information have an excellent background tune? AHA Music is the solution. This extension for Google Chrome (and its clones, including Edge Chromium) is based on the ACRCloud network, is 100 percent free, and doesn't use the microphone at all. I've had very good results with it, and it got me out of several fixes.
In short, if you have a huge musical doubt or someone asks you how to find out the name of a song, I think this list is more than enough to get started. All these tools complement each other, so don't stop trying them. Good luck!
