How to Find a Song from a YouTube Video, TV Show, or Movie

Have you ever come across a song that you can not wait to find out the title, the artist, and such? You can not wait to download it or find it on YouTube so that you can listen to it on your own.

Video and music contents are very much intertwined in modern life. You often run into songs that you fall in love with immediately.

But how do you find that song? How do you access the soundtrack? Whether we are talking about YouTube videos, TV shows, or movies, there is always a way to learn about a particular featured song.

How to Identify a Song from a YouTube Video

Okay, so YouTube videos are quite interesting in this department. In some cases, YouTube videos can be demonetized (meaning no income from advertising for the YouTuber who uploaded it) or even removed for copyright infringement. This depends on the record label, though many do not do that anymore as YouTube’s algorithm purportedly can now redirect the earnings to the rights owner.

Given the fact that the uploader is under the scope here, they will often list the featured pieces of music in the video description. So, that is where your search should start.

In some cases, especially for the more obscure pieces, the uploader will not bother to include the link to the song or even its name and artist in the description.

The obvious solution here would be to use one of many song identification apps (more on this later). But what happens if there are other sounds or noises in the track. You will be able to hear it, but will the app’s algorithm be able to sift through everything? This is uncertain.

Your best bet here would be to try the YouTube comments section. Look through a couple of pages and see if anyone had asked the same question that you want to. If not, feel free to ask the question yourself. Chances are that someone will respond and you will find out the song.

How to Identify a Song from a TV Show

Apart from music ID apps, there is another way to see the exact details regarding a particular song. Yes, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is the world’s biggest movie and TV show library. The library’s point is to record all relevant information about a particular TV show or movie. This includes the cast, trivia, reviews, and, you guessed it, soundtracks.

Just search for the TV show you have in mind on imdb.com and scroll down to the Soundtrack Credits section. You will note, however, that this list is pretty short. In fact, there probably won’t be anything save for the intro song to the show.

Fortunately, every episode of your favorite show has a page of its own complete with the relevant information.

1. On the main IMDb page for a show, navigate to the particular season.
   
2. Within the season, further narrow down to the episode.
   
3. Click More.
   
4. Then, click Soundtrack. This should list all the songs in said episode, including the one you are looking for.
   
   
   

How to Identify a Song from a Movie

Identifying a song from a movie using IMDb works just like with TV shows. Even easier, in fact. All you need to do is navigate to the movie’s main page and go to the Soundtracks section.

Another cool way to do it is to go to YouTube and search for “[name of the movie] soundtrack”. Movie soundtracks and OSTs (Original Soundtracks) can be very cool experiences in themselves. That means that, in addition to finding a cool song that you were looking for, you will also gain access to other cool songs featured in the said movie.

Using Song Identifying Apps

Okay, so we are here. Yes, these apps are definitely the most straightforward way to immediately get your hands on any song featured in a YouTube video, TV show, or a movie. The cool thing about these apps is that they work anywhere. Seeing as you can not really look up IMDb to find out which song is playing at a party or on the radio, these apps definitely more efficient than googling the lyrics, especially if the song is instrumental.

We have rounded up a list of the most capable song identifying apps that will help you find those songs you are looking for.

Shazam

At the top of the list is Shazam, one of the first and most popular music identifying apps for iOS and Android devices, Apple watches, Android Wear, and macOS devices. It is as simple as searching for this app on your device’s app store, downloading it, installing it, and starting it up. You will see the Tap to Shazam button. Tap it. If the app recognizes the song in question (which it most likely will), it will notify you about it.

SoundHound

SoundHound is a great Shazam alternative. Although Shazam is great in its own respect, SoundHound has a brilliant feature that allows it to recognize songs if you hum the notes. This is great for those stubborn tunes that get stuck in your head.

Still, you may have to try both Shazam and SoundHound before the song is successfully identified. It may also satisfy your curiosity to see if they both come up with the same title and other info.

Siri

Yes, Siri, the Apple assistant that helps you to do so many things on your phone, tablet, or computer. Among other things, Siri is capable of identifying the music that is playing at the moment. All you need to do is to say Hey Siri followed by “Name that song,” “What song is playing right now,” or “Which song is this,” and the assistant will listen to it and try to identify it for you. Granted, this isn’t the most effective option in loud environments, such as parties.

Google Assistant

Sure, Google Assistant can do pretty much the same thing as Siri. Rather than Hey Siri, you say “Hey Google” to activate it, followed by your inquiry. Google Assistant is pretty awesome at recognizing songs, but it shares the same problem as Siri – affected by ambient noises.

AHA Music

But what about the Windows and Chromebook users? What happens when they do not want to bother to pick up their smartphone or tablet?

In that case, there is a Chrome extension called AHA Music that is able to identify songs in YouTube videos, as well as TV shows and movies, as long as they are played in-browser. Once you have added the AHA Music extension to Google Chrome, navigate to a page where the video/show/movie is playing and click the button for the extension. The results should pop up immediately. You will also get additional information about the tunes.

Additional FAQ

1. Why not just search for lyrics?

Sure, searching for the lyrics is a way to get to a particular song that you’re trying to find. It’s just that you may end up typing the wrong lyrics. Or, maybe the song is not in a language that you know. Maybe the version you fell in love with is not the original, and the lyrics won’t be able to help here.

Then, there’s the ease of use. Once you’ve downloaded one of the above apps, it’s easier to allow them to find the song that you’re looking for than to type the lyrics. On the other hand, looking for a song on IMDb will give you more information about it.

But sure, you can totally search for the lyrics if it suits you.

2. What if I can’t find the song?

So, the app has identified the song, but you can’t seem to find it on YouTube. Although this doesn’t happen very often, sometimes songs aren’t on YouTube (usually to satisfy copyright claims). Google is your best friend here. You’re bound to find the song somewhere on Google. If not, you can always try and find it on platforms like Spotify and Amazon.

3. What if I can’t identify the song?

If an app isn’t able to identify the song, try a different app. If you’ve tried enough apps and failed, try IMDb next. If nothing works, try Google. Find some relevant forums and ask the question. If you’re determined enough, you’ll look past the first Google results page.

Identifying Songs

Sometimes, identifying a song from a video, TV show, or a movie is as simple as tapping a button inside an app. Other times, you might have to check out the comment sections or IMDb pages. When push comes to shove, you may have to look around some obscure forums. In any case, chances are that you’ll be able to find the song that you are looking for.

Did you find that song that you could not get out of your head? Which method worked for you? If nothing helped, try hitting the comments below and see if our community can give you an answer or point you in the right direction.