The Best Ways to Find a Song's Name (With or without Lyrics)

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Find a song with audio recognition apps, lyric look-ups, or music charts

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IN THIS ARTICLE

1 Google Search Engine

2 Genius

3 Shazam

4 MusixMatch

5 Siri & Alexa

6 Google Assistant

7 Soundhound

8 Midomi

9 AudioTag

10 Musipedia

11 WatZatSong

12 Online Music Forums

13 Local Radio Stations

14 Music Charts

15 Official Artist Websites

16 IMDb.com

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Article Summary

Co-authored by Carter Miller and Sophie Burkholder, BA

Last Updated: January 6, 2025 Fact Checked

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Nothing is quite so frustrating as having a song you can't remember the name of stuck in your head. But even if you only know a couple of lyrics or can hum a brief song bar, all is not lost! Utilize search engines or music recognition websites to find your lost song and be able to name that tune in just a few minutes.

Quick Ways to Find a Song without Knowing the Name

1. Use Shazam to identify songs that are currently playing near you.
2. Search lyrics into Genius.com, which has a massive song database.
3. Hum or sing a song’s melody into Soundhound if you don’t remember the lyrics.
4. Go on Musipedia to find songs by playing the notes into their virtual keyboard.
5. Post on WatDatSong, a forum where music lovers help each other find songs.

Steps

1

Google Search Engine

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1. A simple Google search can help if you remember a song's exact lyrics. Type in any phrase or lyric you remember from the song. Use quotation marks around specific phrases to narrow your search, e.g., “destiny is calling me” or “wish we could turn back time.”

   • Avoid excessively searching common words like "the," "and," "or," "but," which will clog up your results.
   • Add context to your search terms if you can. If you heard the song in a specific TV show or movie, for example, you might search for something like “song playing during the credits of Grey's Anatomy season six.”
   • Try alternate spellings of any names or words in your remembered lyrics. For example, try “Zach” instead of “Zack” or “tonite” instead of “tonight.”
   • Narrow down your search with advanced search engine options, such as limiting your search to pages released within a certain year or only showing results that contain all the words included.
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2

Genius

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1. Genius can find a song via sound recognition or a lyric search. If the song is playing near you, open the Genius app and navigate to the Home page. Open the button on the top-left of your screen that looks like a soundwave. Hold your phone up to the music to find the name of your song.

   • If you know any of the lyrics of your song, type them into the Search tab of the Genius app.
   • Genius has one of the largest databases of song lyrics in the world; if you enter accurate song lyrics, Genius will find the title of your song.

3

Shazam

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1. Shazam can identify songs that are currently playing. Open the Shazam app on your phone or desktop. Hold your device near the speaker that the song is playing from and hit the Tag button.

   • If the song you want to identify is a pre-recorded song available on streaming platforms, Shazam should be able to find its name within seconds.
   • Along with the song’s name, Shazam will tell you the song’s album, artist, and where you can download or stream it.
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4

MusixMatch

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1. MusixMatch can find the title of a song that’s playing near you. Download the MusixMatch Lyrics Finder app and open it on your device. Play the song you’re looking for the title of and hold your device near the sound.

   • After a few moments, MusixMatch can show you the title of the song you’re looking for, along with the complete lyrics.
   • MusixMatch offers other services like creating playlists and karaoke versions of your favorite songs.

5

Siri & Alexa

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1. Siri and Alexa can be asked to identify songs that are currently playing. Say “Hey, Siri” or “Hey, Alexa,” depending on which device you have. Ask Siri or Alexa what song is playing, and they will respond to you with the name of the song.

   • Siri is the digital assistant built into Apple products, and Alexa is the Amazon version built into the Echo and Alexa devices.
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6

Google Assistant

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1. Google Assistant can identify songs based on recordings or humming. Open the Google Assistant app on your smartphone, smart speaker, car, watch, TV, computer, or other smart device. Tap the microphone icon and say, “Search a song” or “Name this song.”

   • Play the song itself, or hum or sing the song’s melody until Google Assistant has found the correct title.
   • Keep in mind that song identification is not the primary purpose of Google Assistant, so its database and music comprehension software may be less advanced than other tools.

7

Soundhound

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1. Soundhound can find instrumental songs or songs whose lyrics you forgot. Open the Soundhound app and tap the large yellow button in the center of the screen. Start humming or singing the parts of the song you can remember.

   • If the song is in Soundhound’s database, they’ll provide you with a list of matching songs.
   • Soundhound can identify songs based solely on humming, so you don’t need to know the lyrics to find the song you’re looking for!
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8

Midomi

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1. Midomi’s website uses humming to find songs without any lyrics. Navigate to the Midomi website and click the pulsing circle on the center of the screen. Hum, sing, or play a short recording of your unknown track.

   • Avoid background noise and keep the site’s internal volume bar in the green zone.
   • After a few moments, Midomi will show a list of tracks that match the melody you played.

9

AudioTag

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1. AudioTag allows you to upload a portion of a song to identify it. Go to the AudioTag website and click Upload File. Upload a 15-45-second snippet of the song recording from your device. The program will compare the audio to its music database and find the track title for you.

   • AudioTag is a great tool if you were able to record a portion of the song on your smartphone but didn’t have access to an audio recognition tool at the time.
   • For example, perhaps you heard a song playing at a park and wanted to know the name but didn’t have enough time to download and use an app like Shazam.
   • Instead, you can quickly pull out your phone to make an audio recording of the song and upload it to AudioTag later.
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10

Musipedia

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1. Musipedia lets you find songs with no words by playing on a virtual keyboard. Once on the Musipedia home page, click Keyboard Search. Enter the notes of your song’s melody as they would be played on the piano. If you know any lyrics or words included in the song, type them into the “Keywords and/or ‘search phrases’” box.

   • Click Search Musipedia to see a list of songs that match the notes you chose.
   • Musipedia is most useful for finding the names of classical or instrumental songs.
   • The site can also identify all music that contains the melody you’ve recorded, as opposed to most song recognition programs that can only recognize songs that exactly match the recording.

11

WatZatSong

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1. WatZatSong lets you consult with other music enthusiasts to find a song. Navigate to the WatZatSong website and upload a short MP3 audio recording of the song or of you humming the song. Other members of the site may comment on your post to help you find the exact name of the song.

   • This process may take time, but you can help members find your song by adding any additional information you have, like the language or music style of the track.
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12

Online Music Forums

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1. Ask around on genre-specific music forums. Search for music forums that discuss the genre of your mystery song, like metal or instrumental. Post a thread with as many details about the song as you can remember. Include lyric phrases, any relevant context, and anything else you remember.

   • The popular social news site Reddit hosts a forum called "r/tipofmytongue," where users can ask for help identifying unknown songs.

13

Local Radio Stations

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1. Contact your local radio station. Call or email the radio station where you heard the song, and ask whether they know which songs they played on a certain date or time. Include any relevant information you can remember.

   • Some radio stations also post their schedules online, which you can peruse on your own.
   • When traveling, you can use a radio locator to find info about a specific station.
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14

Music Charts

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1. Search through recent music charts for new and popular songs. If you've heard this song on a "Top 40" or "Greatest Hits" channel, you might have luck checking top music charts. Check music charts from your city or country for the best results. Popular charts include Billboard, Official Charts, and BBC Radio 1.

   • Some songs are popular within a specific subculture but otherwise unknown—look at genre-specific charts for country, rap, Latin, and other genres.
   • Similarly, look for unknown “oldies” by searching through charts from earlier generations.
   • Billboard allows users to view the Top 100 list from 1953 onward. Other sites have cataloged Top 100 lists from as early as 1940.

15

Official Artist Websites

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1. If you know the song’s artist but not the title, check that musician’s page. Search the artist’s name on Google and find their official website. Scroll through their album lists and search for every song you don’t know on a music website like Spotify or iTunes until you find what you're looking for.
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16

IMDb.com

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1. Search IMDb.com to find songs played in movies or television shows. IMDb (or the Internet Movie Database) is a massive database of information relating to films and TV series. Search IMDB for the movie or program in which you heard the song. Click on the project’s page, then scroll down to “Soundtracks.”

   • Click on “Soundtracks” to see a list of every song featured in the film or TV show in order of appearance.
   • If you don’t recognize the song immediately, search each song on YouTube to hear a snippet and match it to the song that you’re looking for.

Community Q&A

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• Question

  What's the best way for me to find the name of a song I don't know?

  

  Community Answer

  Type some of the lyrics into Google and there's a good chance the song will pop up.

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• Question

  How can I find out the name of a song with no lyrics?

  

  Community Answer

  Try to figure out who wrote it based on the instrumentals. For example: decide if it's instrumental rock, country, hip hop, rap, etc. and try to listen to the tone and look for the song.

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  Thank you for your feedback.
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• Question

  How can I find a song of which I only remember the video clip?

  

  Community Answer

  if you remember what was happening in the video clip, try to search for what action that was taking place in the video or the location where the video was made.

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  Thank you for your feedback.
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Tips

• If you've found the lyrics but don't recognize the specific song, you may have initially heard a cover. Search for cover songs until you find the version you recall.
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• If you want to download a song after looking it up, search the song name and Google and look at the apps under the Listen header.
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• Some of the music recognition apps may also tell you where to purchase or download the song. The Shazam app even lets you purchase and download songs correctly.
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• If the song is a trap song or a song that don't have any lyrics, try paying attention to the beats to help decipher the song name.

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