" What's the name of this song? is a question that has probably been asked since the music was played. You hear something you love, and more than anything, you want to know how to hear it again. If you're watching a music stream or a video with background music on YouTube and you're lucky, the uploader may have added a timestamped track list. If not, how do you identify a song in a YouTube video?
Identify a song from a YouTube video
It's not easy, but there are a few methods you can use to identify a song from a YouTube video. All require detective skills, so dust off your magnifying glass and let's get to work.
Check the video description
Most experienced content creators will add either a track list or a music credit to their video description. If you're lucky and you watch the right video, you can also find a timestamp with a hyperlink in the description, so you can jump right into the video to find the right tag, you'll also have a timestamp with a link hypertext so you can jump straight to the song and see if it's the right one.
Check comments
If there is no track listing or song information in the description, check the comments. You're probably not the only one who wants to know what a particular song is in a YouTube video. Read comments and see if other people have asked about specific songs. Even if the downloader does not respond, sometimes helpful fans will help.
Search the lyrics
If you remember some lyrics (if there are any), put them into a search engine to see what happens. There are specific websites that offer lyrics listings including, Lyrics.com, Lyricsworld.com or Find Music By Lyrics. Google is a bit mixed in reporting results for lyrics. Sometimes it gets them spotted and other times it can bring back seemingly random results, so some research might be required.
Use an app to identify the song on YouTube
If none of the simple options work, you can use a third-party app to help you identify the song. If you're on mobile, Shazam is the perfect app to identify the music you hear:
- Install the app if you don't already have it.
- Play the song in the background with Shazam listening and he should be able to identify it.
If you're a Chrome user, there's an add-on called AHA Music – Music Identifier that's apparently pretty good at doing a Shazam-like job from your browser. There are other apps that can do the same thing in other browsers or as online services.
Audiotag and Youtube direct link
Another web application option is a service like Audiotag.info. This is a free service that has been around for almost a decade.
To use the site, follow these steps:
- Copy the video URL from YouTube in the Audiotag page and timestamp in the small box on the right.
- Select "Analyze URL" and let Audiotag follow its process.
- If all goes well, you should end up with a correctly identified song. There are other websites like this, so if you don't like the look of this one, try another one.
Ask random people
If all else fails, sites like The Song of Wat Zat? are useful places to visit if you really need to identify a song from a YouTube video. It's a man-curated site where you upload a clip of the song and other people try to identify it. Worth a try if nothing else works!
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These are some ways to identify a song from a YouTube video. Do you know of any others that work? Tell us about them below if you do!
