# How does Shazam get information so quickly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 21, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-shazam-get-information-so-quickly/693666 "2014-07-21T15:49:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-shazam-get-information-so-quickly/693666/1 "2014-07-21T15:49:46Z")
Oftentimes, I like some of the introductory music to various TV programs, events, etc. I’ll usually rewind the DVR and Shazam the song. For example, yesterday I liked a song that ESPN played after a commercial break during the British Open. Shazam immedaitely told me that it was from the Final Round of the British Open. It was basically a real-time tag. Once in a while, ESPN Sportscenter will have a snippet of a song leading up to a story. Shazam will tell me that it’s from Sportscenter. Pretty amazing, but how do they do it? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-shazam-get-information-so-quickly/693666/2 "2014-07-21T16:57:36Z")
Wisdom of Solomon, speed of Mercury. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-shazam-get-information-so-quickly/693666/3 "2014-07-21T17:18:53Z")
Song fingerprint pattern-matching. See [How does the music-identifying app Shazam work its magic?](http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2009/10/that_tune_named.html) for a good basic breakdown. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-shazam-get-information-so-quickly/693666/4 "2014-07-21T17:28:58Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > Song fingerprint pattern-matching. > > See [How does the music-identifying app Shazam work its magic?](http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2009/10/that_tune_named.html) for a good basic breakdown. That part I know. My question is how I can be watching TV when a song comes on, and then Shazam tells me the song and the actual show immediately. My tag from yesterday at 9:40am includes this information: “2014 Open Championship Final Round”. Shazam only heard a snippet of the song right after an ad. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-shazam-get-information-so-quickly/693666/5 "2014-07-21T17:36:48Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Wisdom of Solomon, speed of Mercury. Don’t be silly. That is why Captain Marvel could get the information quickly. Shazam, however, uses the Rock of Eternity as a nexus of power. I presume it recognizes jazz, blues, pop, and classical as well as rock. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-shazam-get-information-so-quickly/693666/6 "2014-07-21T17:38:30Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > That part I know. My question is how I can be watching TV when a song comes on, and then Shazam tells me the song and the actual show immediately. My tag from yesterday at 9:40am includes this information: “2014 Open Championship Final Round”. Shazam only heard a snippet of the song right after an ad. Shazam is probably automatically monitoring TV broadcasts and tagging them. The guide to what is on TV can be know to Shazam. It could know the information almost immediately. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-shazam-get-information-so-quickly/693666/7 "2014-07-21T21:24:56Z")
does Shazam provide for users to tag unknown songs and thus update the Shazam database? That would explain it. ---
**Author:** ![eltro102](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@eltro102](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eltro102)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-shazam-get-information-so-quickly/693666/8 "2014-07-21T21:56:57Z")
many ads tap into shazam, showing a lil shazam logo and getting the customer to use it to see more info about the product when the ad plays, so it would make sense for shazam to monitor TV so that it knows what sound is on when on TV ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-shazam-get-information-so-quickly/693666/9 "2014-07-21T23:02:57Z")
Could Shazam decode the [NAVE](http://www.networkworld.com/article/2307109/computers/psychoacoustic-encoding--what-nielsen-uses-to-track-tv-viewing.html) signal from the audio?