# Why can Shazam recognize a song but Apple's iTunes Match can't? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 28, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-shazam-recognize-a-song-but-apples-itunes-match-cant/785453 "2017-04-28T18:40:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MorrisCody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/91b2a8/32.png) [@MorrisCody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MorrisCody)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-shazam-recognize-a-song-but-apples-itunes-match-cant/785453/1 "2017-04-28T18:40:20Z")
Using the Shazam app, I can hold my phone up un a crowded bar, and it’s able to identify the song that’s playing. However, if I rip a song from a CD (and provide all the meta data), Apple’s iTunes Match frequently isn’t able to identify it. I understand why Apple doesn’t use just the meta data to identify a song; otherwise people would rename one song over and over to add music they don’t own to their library. I would think that knowing what the song probably is would make the algorithm practically flawless, however, my experience shows that isn’t the case. Why can Shazam recognize a song in an imperfect environment but Apple’s iTunes Match frequently can’t with a version ripped from a CD? [I’m not talking about obscure songs that may not have a digital fingerprint in Apple’s database.] ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-shazam-recognize-a-song-but-apples-itunes-match-cant/785453/2 "2017-04-28T18:47:25Z")
WAG: Apple’s iTunes Match is much more concerned about avoiding “false positives” and distinguishing between a particular recording and alternate versions, covers, excerpts, samples, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-shazam-recognize-a-song-but-apples-itunes-match-cant/785453/3 "2017-04-28T20:25:50Z")
I’ve never used iTunes Matdh, but I haven’t found Shazam to be all that good. If I don’t already know what the song is, Shazam usually doesn’t either. ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-shazam-recognize-a-song-but-apples-itunes-match-cant/785453/4 "2017-04-28T23:29:29Z")
I’m sure it’s as simple as different algorithms. FWIW, I’ve found SoundHound to be better and faster than Shazam. Although, I haven’t used Shazam in a few years. Sent from my Galaxy S 4 (someday I’ll upgrade) using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-shazam-recognize-a-song-but-apples-itunes-match-cant/785453/5 "2017-04-28T23:39:47Z")
> [@Daddypants](#): > > I’m sure it’s as simple as different algorithms. > > FWIW, I’ve found SoundHound to be better and faster than Shazam. Although, I haven’t used Shazam in a few years. This is still true, I just compared them a couple weeks ago. SoundHound was better on all three tracks I tried. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-shazam-recognize-a-song-but-apples-itunes-match-cant/785453/6 "2017-04-29T00:42:59Z")
> [@Daddypants](#): > > I’m sure it’s as simple as different algorithms. > > FWIW, I’ve found SoundHound to be better and faster than Shazam. Although, I haven’t used Shazam in a few years. > > Sent from my Galaxy S 4 (someday I’ll upgrade) using Tapatalk I have both apps on my phone, and in my experience if one can’t find it, neither can the other one. And SoundHound takes far longer to start than Shazam. Long enough that frequently the song is finished before it’s loaded. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-shazam-recognize-a-song-but-apples-itunes-match-cant/785453/7 "2017-04-29T01:04:23Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I have both apps on my phone, and in my experience if one can’t find it, neither can the other one. And SoundHound takes far longer to start than Shazam. Long enough that frequently the song is finished before it’s loaded. Maybe that’s your phone? I have them both as well and they each take 5-6 seconds to launch. I’d like to default to Shazam since it’s connected to the music service I use, but SoundHound still finds music for me if Shazam doesn’t. Weird. Sorry I have no insight to the OP’s problem, I happily deleted crapple software from my stuff years ago. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-shazam-recognize-a-song-but-apples-itunes-match-cant/785453/8 "2017-04-29T01:54:25Z")
According to [this article](http://www.kirkville.com/apple-music-matches-files-with-metadata-only-not-acoustic-fingerprinting/), they both work essentially the same way: acoustic fingerprinting. Basically it records a sample, maybe a few, and compares them against a database. Explains why it takes so freakin’ long for Match to scan your music library. Apple Music, OTOH works just on metadata. The service gives full access to Apple’s entire music catalog, so I’d imagine they’re not as concerned with users “fooling” it with “fake” songs. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-shazam-recognize-a-song-but-apples-itunes-match-cant/785453/9 "2017-04-29T03:12:44Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > According to [this article](http://www.kirkville.com/apple-music-matches-files-with-metadata-only-not-acoustic-fingerprinting/), they both work essentially the same way: acoustic fingerprinting. Basically it records a sample, maybe a few, and compares them against a database. Explains why it takes so freakin’ long for Match to scan your music library. > > Apple Music, OTOH works just on metadata. The service gives full access to Apple’s entire music catalog, so I’d imagine they’re not as concerned with users “fooling” it with “fake” songs. That article is about a year out of date. [Apple Music uses acoustic fingerprinting](http://www.macworld.com/article/3093473/streaming-services/apple-improves-icloud-music-library-matching-ditches-drm-files-for-apple-music.html). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-shazam-recognize-a-song-but-apples-itunes-match-cant/785453/10 "2017-04-29T03:46:03Z")
Yeah, it’s just a difference in consequences. Apple doesn’t want to give you the wrong song, nor does it want you to be able to use a recording at a bar to get a free song. Shazam wants to give you an answer even if it’s not too sure, and is specifically designed to work with low quality recorded audio. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-shazam-recognize-a-song-but-apples-itunes-match-cant/785453/11 "2017-04-29T04:02:42Z")
> [@Daddypants](#): > > FWIW, I’ve found SoundHound to be better and faster than Shazam. Although, I haven’t used Shazam in a few years. I don’t use SoundHound but I can say Shazam is ridiculously fast. Fast enough that if SoundHound is faster it won’t amount to much. I used Shazam in ideal conditions at home (WiFi, no background noise, phone a foot away from the speaker) and I doubt Shazam listened for two seconds before getting a hit. I assume it slows down in more adverse conditions. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-shazam-recognize-a-song-but-apples-itunes-match-cant/785453/12 "2017-04-29T14:11:35Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I’ve never used iTunes Matdh, but I haven’t found Shazam to be all that good. If I don’t already know what the song is, Shazam usually doesn’t either. I use SoundHound, and I’m constantly astounded at how well it works. I’ve been in bars where I could barely even make out the music, and it’s been able to find a match for me. I just tested it on my phone (iPhone SE), and it took less than 2 seconds for SoundHound to open. The biggest time sink for me in launching that app is trying to remember and figuring out on which screen the app is located. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-shazam-recognize-a-song-but-apples-itunes-match-cant/785453/13 "2017-04-29T15:39:04Z")
Kazaam can, because he is a real genie (while Shazam is not)… ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-shazam-recognize-a-song-but-apples-itunes-match-cant/785453/14 "2017-04-29T22:07:48Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > The biggest time sink for me in launching that app is trying to remember and figuring out on which screen the app is located. To avoid that hassle and save time you could just say, “Hey Siri, what song is this?” Siri hooks into the Shazam database, though. ---
**Author:** ![STIntergalactic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/db5fbb/32.png) [@STIntergalactic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/STIntergalactic)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-shazam-recognize-a-song-but-apples-itunes-match-cant/785453/15 "2017-05-01T17:16:07Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Kazaam can, because he is a real genie (while Shazam is not)… Well, to be fair, Shazam is a real genie too. I even saw a movie about him when I was growing up in the 90s. I think it starred the guy from Jingle All the Way ---
**Author:** ![Doughbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Doughbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doughbag)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-shazam-recognize-a-song-but-apples-itunes-match-cant/785453/16 "2017-05-04T12:16:28Z")
It depends for the most part what the particular database has in it’s database to compare a song with.