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umdjb

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 27, 2006
220
0
Washington D.C.
It will listen to a song whether its on the radio, or playing through the speakers in a Starbucks, and then tell you who sings it!!!
 

admanimal

macrumors 68040
Apr 22, 2005
3,531
2
It's definitely the one that can impress non-techie people the most.

Only thing I wish was different is the interface. It gives me like 20 iTunes links for every song.
 

SlapMonkey

macrumors regular
Jun 15, 2008
149
0
I tried this the other day with some songs that were playing in some TV shows... surprisingly it identified every single one! Works like magic. ;)
 

mark34

macrumors 6502a
May 18, 2006
643
161
i dont think it requires wifi, 3G will work fine.

It is a great app! To be honest, mostly for the Wow factor.
 

Stangs55

macrumors 6502a
Jul 3, 2007
777
46
The Lone Star State
Enjoy it while you can!!

Shazam is a software well known to ATT, but it has ALWAYS come with a hefty subscription fee. Right now, they're getting you hooked...but think of it more as a free trial. I think that $5/month is the charge they've asked in the past...the iPhone will soon be no different.
 

GreenLightJerky

macrumors member
Jul 4, 2008
77
0
Unfortunately this software only works for popular music.
I listen to a lot of independent and underground music (hip hop,electronica etc), and im 0-30. DID not get ANY of them right. It did not even recognize Korns version of Low Rider. My friend loves it but he ONLY listens to the radio so it gets ALL of the top 40 crap. Cool concept but just not for everyone.
 

bowens

macrumors 6502a
Jun 19, 2006
825
133
Florida
I downloaded Midomi. It does basically the same thing but it will allow you to sing or hum a song into the phone or just say the name of the song or artist. It works fairly well.
 

mark34

macrumors 6502a
May 18, 2006
643
161
Unfortunately this software only works for popular music.
I listen to a lot of independent and underground music (hip hop,electronica etc), and im 0-30. DID not get ANY of them right. It did not even recognize Korns version of Low Rider. My friend loves it but he ONLY listens to the radio so it gets ALL of the top 40 crap. Cool concept but just not for everyone.

It found a fairly obscure song by a Russian artist recently for me, though clearly there will be a limit on how obscure.
 

andreab35

macrumors 6502a
May 29, 2008
825
0
USA
I recently downloaded this app too and it is AWESOME!

It really identifies songs extremely well! I highly recommend it!

I put it to the test by trying to identify some classical music, but it couldn't. But that's ok. I don't listen to much classical except for a bit of Yanni.

But overall this app gets an A++++++++ :D
 

Tannerozzy

macrumors regular
Feb 2, 2008
109
13
Waco, Texas
It found me La Fiesta by Maynard Ferguson
and Swingin' for the Fences by Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band

Two not very well known songs by any means. Just random jazz songs I had on an old CD.

This song came on the radio on my way home from work that I thought sounded cool. I ran shazam and found out that it was called Breathe by The Prodigy


So while a lot of you may not like this app or think it's limited, I've found it extremely accurate and useful this past week. I definitely wouldn't want to be without it now that I've had it.
 

QCassidy352

macrumors G5
Mar 20, 2003
12,028
6,036
Bay Area
Unfortunately this software only works for popular music.
I listen to a lot of independent and underground music (hip hop,electronica etc), and im 0-30. DID not get ANY of them right. It did not even recognize Korns version of Low Rider. My friend loves it but he ONLY listens to the radio so it gets ALL of the top 40 crap. Cool concept but just not for everyone.

I can see how that would be frustrating, but they have to actually compile a database of songs, and given the almost limitless amount of music out there, there has to be a limit to what it can identify.
 

Telp

macrumors 68040
Feb 6, 2007
3,075
25
Unfortunately this software only works for popular music.
I listen to a lot of independent and underground music (hip hop,electronica etc), and im 0-30. DID not get ANY of them right. It did not even recognize Korns version of Low Rider. My friend loves it but he ONLY listens to the radio so it gets ALL of the top 40 crap. Cool concept but just not for everyone.

It's true, but there were a lot of bands that I was very surprised that it found. That being said, it shouldn't have to identify your own music, and when your out at starbucks and your like, wow i actually like this song, thats when it comes in handy.
 

dws90

macrumors regular
Jan 16, 2008
122
0
I was able to stump it, though - it failed to identify "Song for Ten" from the Doctor Who series one soundtrack. That doesn't seem like an especially obscure song (it's on iTunes, after all), so I'm not sure why it failed.


Don't get me wrong though - it works great 99% of the time (sample size of 3). I have no idea how it does it, but it's definitely worth installing.
 

Telp

macrumors 68040
Feb 6, 2007
3,075
25
I was able to stump it, though - it failed to identify "Song for Ten" from the Doctor Who series one soundtrack. That doesn't seem like an especially obscure song (it's on iTunes, after all), so I'm not sure why it failed.


Don't get me wrong though - it works great 99% of the time (sample size of 3). I have no idea how it does it, but it's definitely worth installing.

I've stumped it before too. What I find funny was that it was able to identify holy moses, but not a much less obscure heavy metal band. Good stuff though.:)
 

sgibson

macrumors regular
Mar 24, 2008
130
0
I was able to stump it, though - it failed to identify "Song for Ten" from the Doctor Who series one soundtrack. That doesn't seem like an especially obscure song (it's on iTunes, after all), so I'm not sure why it failed.


Don't get me wrong though - it works great 99% of the time (sample size of 3). I have no idea how it does it, but it's definitely worth installing.

So it works 66% of the time? Sorry, couldn't resist.

It is pretty amazing, recognised some obscure goth stuff I have that came out on independent labels several years ago, but tripped up on the b-side of a commercial single. Overall I was impressed at how wide ranging it seems to be and for it's intended use - identifying things whilst out and about, it is probably close to perfect. Wouldn't pay a subscription for it though, but would pay $5 for the app itself. Getting a referral fee from iTunes purchases seems to be the most sensible way to subsidise this app, though it may be an issue if you can't buy over 3G/EDGE, though I assume they could create a "songs to buy" list that you can then do when in wifi.
 

bmms8

macrumors 68020
Dec 19, 2007
2,492
112
Sony Ericsson has had this feature on their phones for about 1.5 years. i have not downloaded shazam but i was wondering when an app like this would come out.
 
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