How to Shazam Music From Your Mac's Menu Bar

[MacRumors]

In macOS Sonoma 14.2, Apple included some additional controls for Shazam music recognition, which is now baked into the Mac operating system more than ever. Here's how to add the functionality to your Mac's menu bar and Control Center.

For those unfamiliar with Shazam, it's an Apple-owned popular service that can identify the names and lyrics of songs, music videos, TV shows, and more, simply by listening to and deciphering whatever is playing.

After years of ‌‌Siri‌‌ integration, Apple acquired Shazam in 2018, and integrated it into iOS and iPadOS as a system-level song recognition function. With macOS 14.2, the same level of integration has finally come to Mac.

Previously, the Shazam app for macOS was necessary to add Shazam to your Mac's menu bar, or you could ask Siri to identify a song. Now there are two other ways to access Shazam that are built-in to the system.

The Shazam menu bar item and the Control Center button can be used to prompt Shazam to start listening to the currently playing song. The dropdown menu also includes a history of any songs you previously have identified using the feature.

To open a song in Shazam on the web, click its title. To open the song in the Music app, click the music icon. To delete an entry, click the trash icon and choose Delete Song to confirm the operation. This will delete the song from your Shazam history across all devices with the Music Recognition option enabled in iCloud's sync settings.

How to Add Shazam to You Mac's Menu Bar

1. Click the Apple symbol in your Mac's menu bar and select System Settings....
2. Select Control Center in the side column.
3. In the Music Recognition section, toggle on the switches next to Show in Menu Bar and/or Show in Control Center.

Don't forget that on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, HomePod, and Mac, you can ask Siri what song is playing, and the result of these requests will also appear in your Music Recognition listening history.

Article Link: How to Shazam Music From Your Mac's Menu Bar

 

[arkitect]

Well that is a handy tip.
I did not even know this was available.

I'll never miss a tune again… Watch, iPhone, Mac…

Thanks.

 

[a m u n]

Shazam is one of the best apps and one of Apple’s best acquisitions, especially given its seamless integration with Apple Music.

 

[philstubbington]

Shazam is one of the best apps and one of Apple’s best acquisitions, especially given its seamless integration with Apple Music.

Exactly that. I use it very heavily - including via Siri on HomePods and every other device.

 

[philstubbington]

Shazam is one of the best apps and one of Apple’s best acquisitions, especially given its seamless integration with Apple Music.

Exactly that. I use it very heavily - including via Siri on HomePods and every other device

 

[PsykX]

Well that is a handy tip.
I did not even know this was available.

I'll never miss a tune again… Watch, iPhone, Mac…

Thanks.

Same!
As much as I pretend I'm a huge macOS power user since 2006, there's always something I didn't know.

 

[randyhudson]

With all the information Apple have about what music people are listening to, it's shocking how bad Apple Music is.

I'll create a station from a song and 12 songs later it's already repeating.

 

[Flamingdeathbolts]

Shazam is one of the best apps and one of Apple’s best acquisitions, especially given its seamless integration with Apple Music.

Didn’t know Shazam is owned by Apple. For sure going to get it on my phone now. Soundhound has left me dissatisfied lately as they don’t update frequently enough with new songs.

 

[ComRadMac]

I can't imagine too many situations in which you're listening to music on your computer and it's giving you no information on what that song is. TV shows maybe?

 

[BohemianSF]

Loaded it and all it does is say Listening. Nothing else. On a brand new MacBook Pro M3 and with macOS 14.2 downloaded before and rebooting everything after before I tried. Nothing. I sure loved Apple under Steve Jobs. This Apple is nothing but issues all the time, everything I moved to Mac for to get away from nearly 25 years ago. It USED TO just work. Not anymore.

 

[philstubbington]

I can't imagine too many situations in which you're listening to music on your computer and it's giving you no information on what that song is. TV shows maybe?

Even if you’re listening to streaming radio it’s handy to keep a record of tunes you like.

 

[jsalda]

With all the information Apple have about what music people are listening to, it's shocking how bad Apple Music is.

I'll create a station from a song and 12 songs later it's already repeating.

No kidding. I've started a station and not only does it repeat, but sometimes, I'll get a song that is totally not in sync with the station. Nevermind the fact that I can't queue up additional songs and get those in the algorithm to help dial in the station. Oh, and then I can't even save the station to listen to later (at least not that I've found.) No wonder my daughter went ahead and paid for Spotify even though we have a family Apple Music plan.

 

[svish]

This should make it easier and faster to recognise music. Have to update my Macs soon

 

[slkjflla]

Even if you’re listening to streaming radio it’s handy to keep a record of tunes you like.

I'm not really very interested in music but I had wondered when it would be useful. Good point I hadn't thought of

 

[SpanishAppleNerd]

I can't imagine too many situations in which you're listening to music on your computer and it's giving you no information on what that song is. TV shows maybe?

YouTube videos maybe too

 

[AndersLangaard]

Will it show a synced list on the Mac of all the Shazams that you have on your phone? Not ready yet to install Sonoma, but curious. Before (with the macOS Shazam app) nothing was ever synced, even though the settings for iCloud were set.

 

[philstubbington]

Will it show a synced list on the Mac of all the Shazams that you have on your phone? Not ready yet to install Sonoma, but curious. Before (with the macOS Shazam app) nothing was ever synced, even though the settings for iCloud were set.

Seems so. It took a good few seconds to retrieve my list on my Mac, but it’s there

There’s a iCloud Sync option on the iPhone app, so I guess that’s where it comes from.

4236 songs showing on my iPhone and same on the Mac.

 

[miguel cortez]

I can't imagine too many situations in which you're listening to music on your computer and it's giving you no information on what that song is. TV shows maybe?

I use it very often. Music in the background anywhere you're using your computer. I'll also have a crowdcast or twitch stream going while I'm working and if I hear a song I like, I just click Shazam to find out what it is.

 

[dhruveonmars]

Seems so. It took a good few seconds to retrieve my list on my Mac, but it’s there

There’s a iCloud Sync option on the iPhone app, so I guess that’s where it comes from.

4236 songs showing on my iPhone and same on the Mac.

Was it actually a few seconds, as I've waited over 10 minutes and don't see the list sync from iPhone. Can confirm iCloud sync is on, on my phone.

Also, does it offer the capability to save the Shazamed music to the Apple Music library like iOS does? I couldn't see a setting for it, and it didn't seem to save anything for me to my music library

 

[philstubbington]

Was it actually a few seconds, as I've waited over 10 minutes and don't see the list sync from iPhone. Can confirm iCloud sync is on, on my phone.

Also, does it offer the capability to save the Shazamed music to the Apple Music library like iOS does? I couldn't see a setting for it, and it didn't seem to save anything for me to my music library

Yes, definitely seconds - maybe 20 or 30 absolute tops.

There’s an Apple Music and a delete icon next to each song, so you can save songs individually. No option to save all songs that I can see.

 

[dhruveonmars]

Yes, definitely seconds - maybe 20 or 30 absolute tops.

There’s an Apple Music and a delete icon next to each song, so you can save songs individually. No option to save all songs that I can see.

Ah ok. Mine still hasn't shown any... perhaps a Mac restart or toggling iCloud off and on on iPhone is needed. Quitting and starting the Mac app did nothing.

And yeah, shame about that, but better than nothing for sure!