Identify a song
How to find a TikTok song without Shazam
Shazam has to hear the music through a microphone, and TikTok rarely makes that easy. Here’s why it misses so many TikTok songs, and the ways to find the song without it, including one that only needs the video’s link.
SongFromTikTok TeamUpdated 7 min read
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The usual routine goes like this: you hear a song on TikTok, open Shazam, and realise the video is playing on the same phone Shazam needs to listen with. So you grab a second device, turn the volume up, hold the phones together, and Shazam comes back with “no result” because the creator was talking over the chorus. Shazam is a great app. It just wasn’t designed for the way music is used on TikTok. Here are the alternatives, in the order worth trying them.
Why Shazam struggles with TikTok songs#
Shazam identifies a song by listening to a few seconds of it through a microphone, turning that into an audio fingerprint and comparing it with fingerprints of released recordings. That works brilliantly for a song playing in a shop. On TikTok, several things get in the way:
- It needs to hear the audio out loud. If you’re watching on your phone, the classic way to use Shazam is a second device held near the speaker. Room noise, a quiet speaker and a phone case over the mic all make the sample worse.
- Headphones and silent scrolling. If you watch with headphones or with the sound off, there’s nothing for a microphone to pick up unless you play the video out loud again.
- Voiceovers and talking. A lot of TikToks have someone speaking over the music. The microphone records both, and the voice can drown out the parts of the song the match depends on.
- Sped-up, slowed and pitched edits. A fingerprint describes the recording as released. Change its speed or pitch and the fingerprint changes too. Some edits are popular enough to be released officially, but many aren’t. See how to find the original of a sped-up or slowed TikTok song.
- Short clips and loops. A seven-second video that loops gives Shazam the same few seconds again and again. If those seconds are a quiet intro or a drop with sound effects on top, there may not be enough to match.
None of this is a flaw in Shazam’s matching. It’s the microphone step, plus how heavily TikTok audio is edited. The methods below work around one or both.
Method 1: TikTok’s own sound page#
The fastest check needs no other app at all. Tap the spinning record in the bottom-right corner of the video, or the scrolling sound name next to the music note at the bottom-left. The sound page opens.
If it shows a song title and an artist, the creator picked that song from TikTok’s library and the name is reliable. Depending on the song and your country, TikTok may also offer a button such as Add to Spotify or Add to music app.
If it says “original sound – username”, the audio was uploaded with the video and TikTok has no song name for it. That doesn’t mean there’s no song; it usually means the song was added in an editing app, or the video is a repost or an edit. We explain the label in detail in what “original sound” means on TikTok. For these videos, move on to the link method.
Method 2: Find the song from the video link, on your phone#
Instead of recording your speaker, a link-based finder opens the TikTok from its link, takes the video’s soundtrack and matches that against a music recognition database. The recognition idea is similar to Shazam’s; the difference is where the audio comes from. Because it’s read from the video file, there’s no microphone and no room noise, and it doesn’t matter whether your phone is muted, on headphones or in a quiet library.
- Open the video in the TikTok app.It needs to be a public video.
- Tap the Share arrow.It’s the curved arrow on the right side of the video, below the comment and bookmark icons.
- Tap Copy link.You’ll find it in the row of options at the bottom of the share sheet; swipe that row sideways if needed.
- Open songfromtiktok.com in your browser.Safari, Chrome or any other mobile browser. There’s no app to install.
- Paste the link and tap Find song.Press and hold in the search box, choose Paste, then tap Find song. A few seconds later you see whether a song was found.
Searching is free and shows whether a match was found, with a blurred preview. To reveal the title, the artist and links to Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes and Deezer (when the song is available there), you need an account and a subscription of $2.99 per month, which you can cancel anytime.
The link method on a computer#
This is where Shazam is least convenient and the link method is easiest. There’s no phone to hold up to your laptop speakers.
- Open the video on tiktok.com.If you’re in the For You feed, click the video so it opens on its own page.
- Copy the address from the browser bar.Ctrl+C on Windows, Cmd+C on a Mac. Or click the Share arrow and choose Copy link.
- Paste it into songfromtiktok.com and click Find song.Same result as on a phone. If a friend sent you the TikTok in a chat app, you can copy the link straight from the message without opening TikTok.
Links in the formats tiktok.com/@user/video/…, vm.tiktok.com/…, vt.tiktok.com/… and tiktok.com/t/… all work. The main guide to finding the song in a TikTok video lists them with examples.
If you still want to use Shazam on one phone#
To be fair to Shazam, you don’t always need a second device. Shazam and the phone makers have added ways to recognise audio playing on the phone itself. The details change between app and system versions, so check what your phone offers:
- iPhone: iOS has a Music Recognition button, powered by Shazam, that you can add to Control Center. It can identify music playing on the iPhone itself, so you can start a TikTok, swipe down and tap it.
- Android: the Shazam app has a pop-up option that floats over other apps and can listen while TikTok is playing.
This removes the second-phone problem. It doesn’t remove the others: the video still has to be playing, and a voiceover, a sped-up edit or a short loop will cause the same misses as before.
Method 3: Lyrics, captions and comments#
These need nothing but patience, and they’re the only methods that can find songs no database knows yet.
Search a line of the lyrics
Turn the sound up, play the clip a few times and write down any words you’re sure of. Search them in quotes with the word “lyrics”. Choose an unusual line rather than the hook; “I love you, baby” matches thousands of songs, a strange image or a name matches a handful. If the song is sped up, the words can be hard to catch, but someone in the comments may already have typed out the line.
Read the caption and comments
Creators often credit the song in the caption, especially musicians posting their own track. In the comments, look for replies to “song?” and favour the ones with the most likes. People do guess, so play the suggested song before you believe it.
Ask
If the song is the creator’s own, an unreleased snippet or a custom edit, they’re the only person who knows. A short comment usually works better than a DM.
Shazam vs. the alternatives#
Here’s how the options compare for TikTok specifically:
| Compared | Shazam | Link method | TikTok sound page | Lyrics search |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it needs | The music playing out loud, or one-phone recognition | The link to a public video | The TikTok app or website | A few words you can hear clearly |
| Second device | Often, unless your phone supports recognising its own audio | No | No | No |
| Muted or headphones | You have to play it out loud | Works, the audio is read from the video | Works | You need to hear the words |
| On a computer | Awkward, needs your phone near the speakers | Works in any browser | Works on tiktok.com | Works |
| “Original sound” | Works if the music is clean | Works if a released song is in the audio | Shows no song name | Works if the song has clear vocals |
| Voiceovers, edits, short loops | Often misses | Also struggles with heavy edits, but no room noise | Shows the editor’s name | Depends on what you can make out |
| Cost | Free | Search free; reveal $2.99/month | Free | Free |
Honest limits of the link method#
Taking the audio straight from the video solves the microphone problems, but not every problem:
- Public videos only. Private, deleted and region-locked TikToks can’t be opened from their link, so their audio can’t be analysed.
- It still needs a released recording. Recognition, ours and Shazam’s alike, matches against songs that exist in a database. Unreleased snippets, a creator’s own music and custom beats won’t match.
- Heavy edits stay hard. Clean audio helps, but a mashup of two songs or an extreme pitch change can still be too far from the original. Try another video from the same trend where the song is less altered.
- Speech-heavy videos. If the music is a faint bed under constant talking, there may not be enough of it to identify.
When you’ve got the name, our guide to saving a TikTok song to Spotify or Apple Music covers the last step.
Frequently asked questions#
Why doesn’t Shazam recognise TikTok songs?
Shazam listens through a microphone, so it needs clean music playing out loud. TikToks often have voiceovers, sped-up or pitched edits and very short loops, and watching on the same phone or with headphones leaves nothing to hear.
How can I find a TikTok song without another phone?
Tap the spinning record to check the sound page. If it says “original sound”, tap Share, choose “Copy link” and paste the link into songfromtiktok.com. The audio is read from the video itself, so no microphone or second device is needed.
Does it work if my phone is muted or I use headphones?
Yes. The link method analyses the audio inside the video file, not what your speaker plays, so your volume and headphones make no difference. The video has to be public.
Can I find a TikTok song on my computer?
Yes. Open the video on tiktok.com, copy the address from the browser bar and paste it into songfromtiktok.com. It works in any browser without an app.
What if no method finds the song?
Unreleased songs, the creator’s own music, covers and heavily edited mashups often can’t be matched by any recognition tool. Search a distinctive line of the lyrics, read the caption and comments, or ask the creator.