TikTok challenges YouTube Music, Shazam with new sound search feature

TikTok challenges YouTube Music, Shazam with new Sound Search feature
27 Jul 2024

TikTok is stepping up its game in the music discovery arena with a new feature called "Sound Search."

This innovative tool allows users to find a song by singing, humming, or even playing it.

Currently available to select users in certain regions, the company confirmed to TechCrunch that the global rollout is yet to happen.

The Sound Search feature enhances user experience, and aids in identifying and understanding rapidly changing song-based trends on the platform.

Outperforming competitors' song recognition tools
Competitive edge

TikTok's Sound Search feature bears a striking resemblance to YouTube Music's song detection tool, which also identifies songs through singing, humming, or playing.

Both TikTok and YouTube Music offer more comprehensive services than Shazam's song recognition tool, which only recognizes songs when the actual track is played.

Unlike its competitors, TikTok goes a step further by not only identifying songs but also displaying videos that use them.

Performance with popular and less-used songs
Feature testing

The effectiveness of TikTok's Sound Search feature appears to be more pronounced with popular songs on the app.

For instance, when tested with Rihanna's "Umbrella," the tool quickly recognized it and displayed popular videos featuring the song or its remix.

However, it seems to have some glitches with songs that are not frequently used in popular videos, such as Hilary Duff's "Fly," where it failed to show any related videos.

It detects TikTok sounds and memes
Additional capabilities

Despite TikTok's assertion that the tool is designed to find songs rather than TikTok-specific sounds, TechCrunch's testing revealed that it could detect popular TikTok sounds or memes as well.

Users who have access to this feature can find it by going to their search bar in the app, clicking on the microphone icon, and selecting "Sound Search."

This new feature enhances TikTok's search capabilities, positioning it as a go-to app for song identification.