Suddenly, Shazam isn’t the only game in town. Both companies offer ways to identify tunes through respective apps. Chances are, though, you’re only going to download one of these apps. So, which app should it be? Is SoundHound better than Shazam or does Shazam still remain supreme? I put both listening apps to the test.

1. Is There An App Better Than Shazam
2. Shazam Lyrics App

Shazam and SoundHound both are two most used song identifier services available right now. Of course, they have more competition but I think if we compare them all together, these two would come out as the ultimate winner. And this is why I thought of drawing a comparison between the two through this section of Shazam vs SoundHound.

• We often come across a lot many music pieces which we instantly like but fail to find the source, which is when Shazam comes to the rescue. The app helps us identify the piece we require.
• This review is long overdue but better late than.! Shazam was one of the very first apps I ever added to my first iPhone. It was surely in the top 5 if not the top 3, & it's so useful to a music lover like me! How I ever did without it still seems crazy to me, so it must never be allowed to go away or taken from any App Store.
• SoundHound: SoundHound is probably the best alternative to Shazam when it comes to music identification. No other app comes so close to Shazam. SoundHound identifies the song in an instant and also provides you with the lyrics to the song. Additional features include singing and humming recognition.
• Midomi.com is a web-based tool provided by a SoundHound, a Shazam competitor. This is the closest thing there is a to a web-based version of Shazam. Or ask Cortana on windows 10 78.3K views.

Of course, you cannot just quickly pick a service as the ultimate winner just because you are a user of it. You never know what the other service offers until you do not use it. And this is why I wanted to compare them on the basis of so many features, usage and many more aspects. You can check out complete details which are given below.

Introduction

Okay, for all those who have no clue about Shazam and SoundHound then let me tell you that they both are music identification apps but of course they are also more than that too. In a broader perspective, I would term them as speech recognition service whose natural language understanding make them a pro at recognizing songs even when you hum them.

Talking in a manner of Shazam vs SoundHound comparison then they both are quite similar. Apart from recognizing music, both the apps suggest you music according to your set preference and taste.

However, as I used both the apps on Android device, I came across a striking difference between the two. Of course, both the apps demands registration for the personalization feature but Shazam takes care of your music taste too. This is why you are supposed to input your favorite music genres and singers too while signing up.

However, this feature was absent from SoundHound. This is the reason you get music recommendations on Shazam and not on SoundHound. But you can listen to them on iTunes or on other platforms only.

Basic Features

Coming on to the next part of this comparison of Shazam vs SoundHound, I want you all to know about the basic features that both the apps have to offer. Apart from the common feature of music recognition through press of a button in both the apps, they are able to perform more tasks and provides more amazing features to you.

Talking about Shazam, you can use it to preview songs and then can add them later on with Apple Music or Spotify playlist, YouTube videos and lyrics of the songs, auto Shazam for hands-free functioning, visual recognition through photos, QR code reader, updates of new song releases, buy tickets to artists’ concerts, follow your favorite artists on Shazam and much more.

Focusing on the uses and features of SoundHound came as a surprise to me because the list was quite different from that of Shazam’s.

So, apart from being used as a music recognition service, you can use SoundHound for other purposes too. You are going to love the feature of SoundHound where it shows what people around you are listening to. You can also discover weekly featured songs and artists, integration between app and iPhone music library, live Lyrics etc. However, it does not support visual recognition like Shazam.

Limits and Upgrades

Each and every application has their own limits and scope to upgrades and the same applies to Shazam as well as SoundHound. This next part of the discussion about Shazam vs SoundHound will let you know about the limitations about their free plan and how much it is going to cost you to upgrade them.

Earlier Shazam used to have a monthly tag limit for its Android and iOS apps which means you can make only a certain number of searches in a month.

However, this limitation restricts to only its iPad app now and you can make as many music recognition searches as you want on its Android and iOS applications. Talking about SoundHound, then there is no such restrictions in this app’s free version. In fact, it offers quite impressive features even in the free version.

You can upgrade to Shazam Encore which is a paid version, costing $6.99 as one-time fee. This provides ads-free service, app syncing and sharing, quick links etc. Now, SoundHound can also get upgraded to SoundHound Infinity which is going to cost $5.99 as one-time fee. This upgrade also brings some very interesting features.

Interface

Interface wise I think Shazam takes the cake away because of user friendly interface and simplest navigation system. The process is intuitive and it will take you hardly five minutes to figure out how the app works even if you are a newbie on it.

Here are some of the highlights of the interface of Shazam:

• Homepage is for Shazam button to carry out searches.
• Swipe to the left to check out your search history as well as to discover Shazam World.
• Swipe to the right to discover the latest charts, music suggestions according to your taste and much more.

This was all about how Shazam works but things are not the same for SoundHound which draws a striking comparison between the two apps. This is the reason that this section of Shazam vs SoundHound brings out the perfect examples on where the two apps differ from each other.

Here are some of the highlights of the interface of SoundHound:

• Recognition SoundHound button on the homepage just like the one we had in Shazam.
• Press the option of History to check out all your history which can be deleted too.
• Press the option of Play to go hands-free and the commands start with “Ok Hound”.

User Control Options (Settings)

I think this section of Shazam vs SoundHound would surely compel you to consider the later one as one of the Shazam alternatives. This is quite a representation of the fact that how much of control is provided to the user and how he can manage it to have the best user experience.

First of all, let us talk about Shazam. Shazam brings the option of auto Shazam which automatically detects the song without clicking the button. It can be activated by long pressing the button. However, this feature is absent in SoundHound.

But to make it up for it, SoundHound brings hands-free feature which can be activated by saying “Ok Hound”. Well, quite a Déjà vu for Google fans.

Other settings option on Shazam are pop-up Shazam for background activation of Shazam while using other apps, notification setting, location add, vibrate etc. On contrary to Shazam, SoundHound has more settings option to offer which are direct sharing on Facebook and Twitter, share location, song playback setting, mute response, notifications, music store etc.

Search Results

You can carry out as many searches as you want on both Shazam as well as SoundHound then what is the factor which draws difference between the two and creates the battle of Shazam vs SoundHound.

So, in order to know what the search result on both the apps look like, I carried out searches on Shazam as well as SoundHound. And to my surprise, the process, speed, accuracy, and content of the results on both the apps were quite different.

First of all, talking about Shazam, I searched for a song and in the results, I got to see the contents which were, songs name, album’s name, artist’s name, options to buy the song, lyrics, videos and artist’s bio on a different page. I also got a list of songs related to the one I searched for.

Talking about the same search on SoundHound, I received all the content which I got on Shazam and a little extra too. I received more songs from the album as well as from the artist, option to watch the video on YouTube, option to share the song, bookmark the song etc.

Speed and Accuracy

When I carried out various types of searches on both the apps I realized that SoundHound turns out to be better than Shazam. Of course, there were moments when both the apps identified the wrong song or were not able to identify, still the results were showcased earlier by SoundHound as compared to Shazam.

Also, in terms of interface and navigation, I think SoundHound is faster than Shazam. However, you get more ease when you use Shazam.

Coming on to the factor of accuracy, then SoundHound came out as the clear winner. Not only the search results were showcased faster but they were also accurate as compared to the earlier app. There is no doubt in the fact that Shazam is more popular than the other app but I think in Shazam vs SoundHound, the later one clearly takes away the bigger piece of the pie.

Customization and User Experience

Both the apps does not support customization options in the free version of the app. However, Shazam does not offer the same even in the paid version whereas you have the option to change the theme when you opt for SoundHound Infinity.

You also get more control options and settings options when you are using SoundHound, whereas, these options are limited in Shazam. Also, upgrading to the paid version costs more in Shazam as compared to SoundHound.

However, I personally felt that you have a better user experience on Shazam rather than on SoundHound. Although there is no doubt in the fact that speed and accuracy of the later one is better but the simplicity of using the app is more in Shazam.

This clearly makes SoundHound a clear winner of this battle of Shazam vs SoundHound but there are still some facts where Shazam performs better than the other app.

Other Aspects

I tried to put the best effort of mine to draw a striking comparison between the two apps and I think now you have Shazam as well as SoundHound alternatives in front of you. There is no doubt in the fact that both the apps have some plus and minus points but there are still some other features which needs to be discussed.

Shazam’s visual recognition feature takes it a step ahead of SoundHound whereas, the factor of pricing brings SoundHound back in the battle.

However, Shazam is available on more number of platforms than SoundHound and also the method of carrying out results by Shazam is more visually appealing. Both the apps demand registration but if you want to have closer and clearer view at Shazam vs SoundHound then you can refer to the chart given below.

Shazam vs SoundHound with Comparison Charts

In order to make it simpler to analyze Shazam vs SoundHound, this one is a summarized version of the complete comparison that I have done earlier in this section. I am sure it will draw a clearer picture for you to understand that which music recognition app is better to use.

Conclusion

If every single aspect is considered as one point then it can be clearly seen that SoundHound arise as the clear winner of this comparison here. Of course, the battle of Shazam vs SoundHound was neck to neck and there are still some factors on which Shazam performs better than SoundHound but on the basis of the complete analysis, the later one turn out to be a total winner.

Is There An App Better Than Shazam

Shazam Lyrics App

However, the personal choice of a user is something which can be a big factor while choosing between the two. Although SoundHound is a better app on the basis of performance but people seems to like Shazam more as it has more number of downloads. However, my recommendation is with SoundHound here.