TikTok has unveiled a new feature called Sound Search, which enables users to identify a song by humming or recording it. This feature aims to assist users in discovering specific songs, as well as popular sounds and memes from videos on the platform. With trends constantly changing, Sound Search is expected to help users stay updated and understand current trends more effectively.
Some users are starting to see TikTok as more than just a social media platform, as the addition of this new feature is anticipated to enhance the app’s search capabilities. Similar to YouTube Music’s song search tool, Sound Search on TikTok allows users to recognize song titles by humming or recording via the device’s microphone. To utilize this feature, users can tap the microphone icon in TikTok’s Search tab and then tap the music icon at the bottom to begin recording.
Currently, Sound Search is only accessible to a small group of users and still has some limitations in recognizing songs that are not commonly used as audio in popular videos on the platform. Nonetheless, the introduction of Sound Search represents a significant enhancement in user experience.
The song recognition technology utilized on TikTok and YouTube Music is akin to that of Shazam, the prominent music recognition app. Notably, Shazam was acquired by Apple in 2018 and has been integrated into iOS and iPadOS, allowing users to identify sounds for free through the app or via Siri. Furthermore, Apple updated Shazam last year to recognize music when users hum into their devices.