How to Shazam a whole DJ set from a link
Check for a tracklist first, then let Auto Shazam or your Mac listen to the set. Three ways to ID a SoundCloud or Mixcloud mix, and their limits.
On this page
To Shazam a whole DJ set from a SoundCloud or Mixcloud link, first check whether a tracklist already exists. If not, play the set on your phone with Auto Shazam turned on, and Shazam keeps identifying tracks while the set plays in another app. At a desk, the Mac's own Recognize Music control does the same job for a set playing in your browser, as long as you listen on headphones. Both run in real time and both miss tracks during long blends and on unreleased edits. A tool that analyzes the whole recording from the link does the same job without you sitting through it.
Step 0: look for an existing tracklist
Recognition is the fallback, not the first move. Before you press anything, check these:
- The upload itself. On Mixcloud, many shows carry a tracklist under the player. DJs add it at upload with Tracklist & Timestamp, by typing rows, pasting a list, or importing a Serato, Traktor or cue sheet file. Mixcloud also fingerprints uploads, but its help center says plainly that this "will not create a tracklist for you".
- The description and comments. On SoundCloud, the DJ's own list, if there is one, is usually in the description. Comments are pinned to points on the waveform, so scroll to the moment you care about: someone may already have named the track, or be waiting for the same answer. If you only need one track, how to find a song in a SoundCloud mix is the shorter route.
- Tracklist sites. For club and festival sets, 1001tracklists is the usual place to look. Its users fill in the rows, so a big set may already be mostly named there, including edits that no recognition app will ever match.
A published tracklist beats recognition on edits, promos and mash-ups, because a person who knows the track wrote it down. If you find a full list, skip ahead to what to do with the IDs.
Method 1: Auto Shazam on your phone
This is the method that needs nothing new.
- Open the Shazam app and touch and hold the Shazam button to turn on Auto Shazam.
- Open the set in the SoundCloud or Mixcloud app, or in your browser, and press play.
- Let it play. Apple's guide says Auto Shazam keeps identifying music "even when you switch to another app or when your device is locked".
- When the set ends, tap the Shazam button again to turn Auto Shazam off.
On iPhone and iPad, songs found with Auto Shazam are grouped by date in the Library, so the set's IDs sit together. If they don't show up there, why your Shazam history isn't showing lists the settings to check. On Android, Auto Shazam offers a "Single result mode" and a "Continuous mode"; choose continuous for a set.
Good for: a set you want to listen to anyway. Limits: it takes as long as the set, it drains the battery, and you have to work out the running order yourself afterwards.
Method 2: Recognize Music on your Mac
If you listen at your desk, the Mac can do the recognizing.
- Click Control Center in the menu bar, then Edit Controls, and add Recognize Music (it's under Sounds). Drag it to the menu bar for one-click access.
- Play the set in your browser with headphones on.
- Click Recognize Music each time a new track settles in. Apple's support page covers exactly this case: "To identify songs playing around you or on your device when you’re wearing headphones: Open Control Center and click Recognize Music or click the Recognize Music button in the menu bar if you added it." (Apple Support: Use your Apple device to identify what song is playing)
- Click the control again to see the list of identified songs.
Because you choose when to click, you can skip blends and jump straight to each new track by scrubbing through the waveform. That makes this method faster than Auto Shazam if you're comfortable navigating the set.
Good for: getting the main tracks from a long set in less time than it runs. Limits: it's manual, and you can still miss short tracks between longer ones.
Method 3: analyze the recording from the link
The third approach is a tool that takes the set's link, fetches the audio and runs recognition across the whole recording, one window after another, then hands you the list. It removes the waiting and the manual clicking. The trade-off is that you depend on the tool supporting the site the set is hosted on, and its results are only as good as the recognition underneath. CatchIt! works this way on the Mac; see below.
How to get better results from any method
Skip the blends. A reasonable rule of thumb: try once the new track is playing on its own, rather than while two are overlapping. During a long blend, expect a miss, or a result for only one of the two tracks.
Expect gaps on edits and promos. An unreleased track isn't in the catalog. When the same gap shows up in several sets, it's probably a promo. Write down the minute it plays; once the track is released, recognition will usually find it, so one search later is worth more than ten retries now.
Watch for wrong versions. A match tells you the song, not always the cut. You may get the radio edit back for an extended mix, or the first release for a remix. Listen before you buy.
Treat repeat hits as one track. Continuous recognition often reports the same track several times in a row. Merge them before you move on.
What to do with the IDs
A set's tracklist is research, not a shopping list. Will Lynch, writing for Pioneer DJ about digging, suggests separating discovery into stages: trawling widely, listening closely, then culling, "which is when you decide what to buy and what to cast aside". Apply that here:
- Collect every ID from the set in one place, along with the ones from your other sources.
- Listen to each track on its own, not only in the mix. Many tracks shine inside a blend and are dull on their own.
- Decide keep or reject for each one.
- Buy from the keep list, checking you've found the exact version you heard.
For the whole route from a set you loved to tracks you own, see how to find and buy the tracks from a DJ set. For digging through many sets at once, see how to dig through DJ mixes and tracklists.
Doing this with CatchIt!
CatchIt! is a Mac app with a free iOS companion. On the Mac it can identify a whole set from its link, and it puts the result in the same Inbox as everything else you capture.
- Audio URL. In the Add Tracklist sheet, paste a SoundCloud or Mixcloud set link. CatchIt! fetches the set and runs Shazam recognition over the whole thing, with live progress and a stop button. The result becomes a tracklist in the Inbox. See Importing tracklists.
- Local recordings. You can also identify a recording on your Mac (mp3, wav, m4a or aiff), such as your own recorded set. CatchIt! analyzes it on the Mac in windows of about 12 seconds, and the audio never leaves your computer.
- Tuning. Settings › Tracks Recognition (Shazam) sets the filter window (60 to 600 seconds, 300 by default) and how many matches a track needs within it (1 to 5, 3 by default).
- Existing tracklists. If the set already has a tracklist on 1001tracklists, TrackID.net, set79 or Djooni, import the page link instead. CatchIt! doesn't import YouTube DJ sets.
- Then sort. In the Inbox, Return keeps a track (green) and Space rejects it (red). On the iPhone, the Tracklists tab lets you play each track's Apple Music match and mark it green or red, which needs Apple Music access and a subscription.
Summary
- Look for a tracklist on the upload or on a tracklist site first.
- No list? Play the set with Auto Shazam on, or click Recognize Music on your Mac track by track.
- Skip blends, expect gaps on promos, and check versions before you buy.
- Put every ID in one place, listen on its own, decide keep or reject, then buy.
For the club side of recognition, see can Shazam identify live music and DJ sets?
Frequently asked questions
- Can Shazam identify songs playing on your own phone?
- Yes, no second device needed. Per Apple, Shazam recognizes music "playing in another app on your device", so you can play a set in the SoundCloud or Mixcloud app and let Shazam listen. Turn on Auto Shazam and it carries on in the background.
- Can a Mac identify songs playing on the Mac itself?
- Yes. Add Recognize Music to Control Center or the menu bar. Apple's instructions cover music playing "on your device when you’re wearing headphones".
- Why does Shazam miss tracks in a mix?
- Long blends play two tracks at once, effects and EQ change the sound, and unreleased edits or promos aren't in Shazam's catalog. Recognition works best on stretches where a single released track plays clearly.
- Should you check for a tracklist before Shazamming a set?
- Yes. If the DJ or listeners have already published a tracklist, on the upload itself or on a site such as 1001tracklists, it's faster and usually more complete than recognition, including track names for edits Shazam can't know.
- How long does it take to Shazam a two-hour set?
- With Auto Shazam on a phone, as long as the set plays: two hours. Tools that analyze the audio file directly can work faster than real time, but speed depends on the tool and your connection.