TikTok is aiming to challenge industry leaders like Shazam and YouTube Music with its latest feature, “Sound Search,” which allows users to identify songs by singing, humming, or playing them. The feature, currently available to a limited number of users in select regions, represents TikTok’s bid to enhance its music discovery capabilities and compete more directly with established music recognition tools.
According to TechCrunch, Sound Search offers an innovative way to find music on the app. Unlike Shazam, which relies on playing the actual song for identification, Sound Search can recognize a track from a user’s voice, whether it is sung or hummed. This added functionality places TikTok’s new tool in direct competition with YouTube Music’s similar feature, which also identifies songs through vocal input.
TikTok’s Sound Search is designed not only to identify songs but also to display videos that feature the tracks. This integration into TikTok’s ecosystem aims to enhance user experience by providing a seamless link between music discovery and related content on the platform. The feature could be particularly useful given TikTok’s fast-changing song trends and its role in driving music popularity.
Initial testing of the feature revealed mixed results. For widely recognized songs, such as Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” the tool performed well, quickly identifying the track and showing related popular videos. Similarly, it effectively recognized the viral “oh no oh no oh no no no” sound. However, for less popular or more obscure tracks, the tool’s performance was inconsistent. For instance, when attempting to identify Hilary Duff’s “Fly” or One Direction’s “Magic,” the feature recognized the song titles but failed to provide relevant video results, instead displaying generic search outcomes.
Despite these glitches, TikTok’s Sound Search demonstrated the ability to identify TikTok-specific sounds and memes, such as the “Oh my gosh, she’s bald. She’s bald, and she’s torturing people who have hair!” sound from “Totally Spies” and the “Nobody’s gonna know” meme created by a TikTok user.
To access Sound Search, users need to navigate to the search bar in the app, click on the microphone icon, and select “Sound Search.” This process aims to integrate seamlessly into the existing app interface, enhancing its role as a search engine for music and sounds.
TikTok’s emphasis on sounds as a core part of its platform underscores the importance of music in driving trends and user engagement. By introducing Sound Search, TikTok is positioning itself as a more comprehensive tool for music discovery, potentially reducing reliance on competitors like YouTube Music and Shazam.
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While the feature is not yet available to all users, its rollout reflects TikTok’s ongoing efforts to expand its functionality and capture a larger share of the music discovery market. The timeline for a broader release remains unclear, but TikTok’s move signals a strategic push to leverage its stronghold on musical trends and video content.
For now, TikTok users with access to Sound Search can explore this new capability, enhancing their ability to find and engage with music on the platform. As the feature becomes more widely available, it may reshape the landscape of music recognition and discovery, further embedding TikTok’s role in the music industry.
