Photo Credit: Deezer
Deezer says its SongCatcher music ID tech can search for songs based on humming, whistling, and singing now.
Anyone curious about a song can now hum, whistle, or sing a snippet in the Deezer app. “Everyone knows how frustrating it can be to have a song stuck in their heads, and we’re very proud to be the first music streaming service in the world to give our users the opportunity to identify a track just by humming, singing, or whistling it directly in the app,” says Alexandra Leloup, VP Core Product, Deezer.
“As we keep improving the algorithm, the feature will become faster and even more accurate when it comes to recognizing songs across our 90 million track library,” she adds. Deezer first launched SongCatcher in 2018 to help users identify millions of tracks around the globe.
How to Use Deezer SongCatcher
- Open the Deezer app on your phone.
- Click on the magnifying glass in the bottom right.
- Click on “What is this song?” to activate SongCatcher.
- “Want to sing or hum instead?”
- Start humming the tune you want to identify.
Deezer says the top three most identified songs for 2022 using SongCatcher are:
- “Calm Down” by Rema
- “As It Was” by Harry Styles
- “Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga
Deezer’s claim that it’s the first music streaming service to offer hum identification may be true, but Google Search has allowed you to find music by humming or singing for a while now. You can even do so as off-key as you like, and Google will usually return the right result, as long as you get the lyrics reasonably right (if you’re singing).
Deezer’s music ID tech seems a bit less refined, but that’s the point. They’re hoping people use the feature to help them refine the algorithm. Finding which parts of the song people find most memorable is a valuable reference for identifying songs through off-key humming, no lyrics, and wrong notes entirely.