YouTube’s New Experiment: Search for Songs by Humming
YouTube announced a new experiment on Android devices that determines a song via humming—which seems like a major step up from Apple’s music recognition app Shazam.
A New Way to Discover Music on YouTube
As noted on YouTube’s support page, the video-sharing platform is testing a search-by-song capability on the Android version of the app that allows users to figure out a song on YouTube by humming, singing, or recording a song.
Users who have access to the experiment can toggle from YouTube voice search to the new song search feature and hum, sing, or record a song for three or more seconds. The platform then identifies the tune and directs the user to relevant YouTube videos featuring the searched song, whether that be the official music video, user-generated content, or Shorts.
While currently only available to a small portion of Android users, the potential wider rollout of this feature could prove helpful to many, as YouTube is a popular destination for looking up songs.
A Familiar Experience: Building on Google’s Song Recognition Feature
YouTube’s latest experiment probably sounds familiar to some users. In 2020, YouTube’s parent company Google first launched the capability on the Google app, Google Search widget, and Google Assistant, letting users figure out a song by humming, whistling, or singing into the microphone icon. However, the main difference appears to be that Google’s feature requires users to hum for 10-15 seconds in order to identify the song.
Just like Google, YouTube’s search-by-song capability is built on machine learning models that can match a person’s hum to a song’s “fingerprint” or signature melody. The company confirmed to AsumeTech that they are utilizing the same technology as Google’s feature.
Exploring Alternatives
While other music recognition apps like SoundHound and MusixMatch can also identify songs by singing or humming the tune, YouTube and Google remain the most popular choices for music discovery. However, it wouldn’t hurt to check out these alternatives as well for a more comprehensive music search experience.
