If you've ever been stuck for the name of a song, or the name of the singer who made it famous, you will definitely appreciate Shazam. This application, long desired by music lovers, can recognize and identify enough songs to convince your friends that you're some kind of music superhero.

"Who sings this?"

"What's the name of that song?"

How many times have you been out at a restaurant, a mall or a bar and heard some song that you "kinda" remember, or where the name of a certain song is on the tip of your tongue? More often than not, I imagine, because it happens to me all the time. And if your friends are anything like my friends, the answers they give you are more like Mad Libs (ask your older brother or sister) than fact.

In today's techno-savvy society, it seems almost unfathomable that there would actually be information that you cannot simply pull seeming out of the air. Well, now you can, and the answer to those brain farts is simply...Shazam! (Now those of waiting for a lightning bolt to turn you into superhero, put your arms down) Shazam is a music recognition app that, while it won't turn you into a spandex-wearing crimefighter, its uses are no less incredible. 

This little app won't get your neighbor's cat out of the tree or let you know that Lil' Timmy is stuck in a well, but it will almost certainly eliminate the words, "Who sings that?" from your vocabulary forever. Brought to you by the folks at Shazam Entertainment (yeah I know), this wunderkind app is capable of recognizing nearly any song, or at least any song I've used it on, simply by holding up your phone up to the radio or speaker. The little gem known as Shazam will handle the rest.

I'll explain. Say there's a song on the radio or better yet, on the radio of the car driving next to you on the street. Activate the Shazam app, point to towards the music and tap the button labeled "Tag Now." The icon will read "Listening" for 5-7 seconds. Then Voila! Or should I say Shazam? The app gives you the information for that song, including the title of the song, the artist's name, and the name of the album on which the song is featured. Pretty cool, huh?

But wait, there's more. If that's not enough to blow your proverbial skirt up, then listen to this. Shazam has top marks from iTunes, which just coincidentally has a "buy now" option, once you've found out what the name of that pesky song actually is, as well a listing of videos from that artist on YouTube. Just by clicking the "More Tag Options," users can preview or even purchase the song on iTunes, all without ever leaving the app. Under the "Manage this Tag" feature, you can even attach a photo or album artwork to the song, as well as share your tag via email with friends.

Now I personally have had a pretty darn impressive track record with Shazam. However, there will be rare occurrences when it will be unable to recognize a song. In my experience, this has happened when one of three factors came into play. One, it fails if there is too much background or ambient noise, let's say at a club. Shazam doesn't like too much distortion. Two, it fails if the song is too obscure. Chances are, if it is a song that only about 12 people in your neighborhood know, then Shazam won't be able to recognize it. And finally, this ties into number #2, Shazam will probably fail if it's listening to a remix or "club mix," when the song being played is not an"'official" released version of the song.

So, if you're a music aficionado or you would just like to "dazzle" your friends with your encyclopedic knowledge of music, then I'd say you'd have a hard time trumping Shazam. So go forth and be stumped no more!

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