What is Shazam used for?

Shazam is a music recognition app and website that names songs from short audio clips and also offers charts, lyrics and concert listings. It is a good fit for naming a song playing in a cafe and finding music heard in a TV show.

Is Shazam open source?

No. Shazam is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. In the Media & Streaming category, open-source options include Feishin, Frosty and Jellyfin.

What are some alternatives to Shazam?

Other SaaS products in the Media & Streaming category include Genius, Apple Music and Apple Podcasts.

Shazam: features, pricing and alternatives

About Shazam

Shazam is an app, owned by Apple, that identifies music playing nearby by listening to a short sample. Users can then see the song, artist and lyrics, and the site invites visitors to scan a code with a phone camera to download the free app on iOS, Android and other devices.

The website features weekly updated charts showing what people are finding with Shazam, with lists such as new and rising songs, rediscovered older tracks, rising artists, music heard on screen, songs reacting to radio play and viral tracks. It also links to concerts, radio spins and a developer toolkit called ShazamKit for adding recognition features to other apps.

Shazam is a consumer app rather than business software, hosted by the provider, and the app is described as free. No paid plans are mentioned in the supplied facts, and the app is described as free, so it can be tried without cost on a phone.

Key features

Song identification from short audio clips
Lyrics and artist pages
Weekly Shazam charts
Concert and radio spin listings
ShazamKit for developers
Apps for iOS and Android

Good fit for

→Naming a song playing in a cafe
→Finding music heard in a TV show

Tags: music-recognition; song-id; charts; lyrics; mobile-app; discovery; apple

Shazam: questions and answers

What is Shazam used for?: Shazam is a music recognition app and website that names songs from short audio clips and also offers charts, lyrics and concert listings. It is a good fit for naming a song playing in a cafe and finding music heard in a TV show.
Is Shazam free?: Yes. Shazam is free to use.
Is Shazam open source?: No. Shazam is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. In the Media & Streaming category, open-source options include Feishin, Frosty and Jellyfin.
What are some alternatives to Shazam?: Other SaaS products in the Media & Streaming category include Genius, Apple Music and Apple Podcasts.