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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
User consensusAlternativesIs it worth it?
Better options than

Shazam alternatives

Shazam users often look for alternatives due to declining song identification accuracy, frustrating bugs, and persistent prompts to subscribe to Apple Music. While Shazam can still be handy for quick song lookups, other apps offer better reliability, specific features like live music tracking, or broader content libraries.

Why users look for alternatives to Shazam

The alternatives

YouTube
4.7★ · 48,038,788 ratings · Free

YouTube is a vast platform for music and video content, allowing users to find and listen to songs, watch music videos, and discover new artists. It's often used for listening to music and can be a primary source for finding songs once identified by other apps R58.

Better for: YouTube is better for users who want a comprehensive platform for both music and video content, including official music videos, live performances, and user-generated content R52. It suits those who don't mind ads or are willing to pay for a premium subscription to remove them R53R56.

Head-to-head: Shazam vs YouTube
Soundmap
4.8★ · 340,115 ratings · Free

Soundmap is described by users as a game-like app where you can collect and trade songs based on your location R74. Users enjoy the concept of collecting songs and the trading aspect R74.

Better for: Soundmap is better for users who enjoy a gamified experience around music discovery and collection, particularly those interested in trading songs R74. However, be aware that some users report issues with bans, slow performance, and customer service R65R67R68.

Head-to-head: Shazam vs Soundmap
SoundHound
4.8★ · 180,751 ratings · Free

SoundHound is a song identification app that some users historically found to be better than Shazam for recognition R83. It offers features like playlists, which some users appreciate R80.

Better for: SoundHound might be better for users looking for an alternative song identification app, especially if they value features like creating playlists within the app R80. However, recent reviews suggest it has also experienced a decline in identification accuracy and functionality R79R82R83.

Head-to-head: Shazam vs SoundHound
Bandsintown Concerts
4.7★ · 56,365 ratings · Free

Bandsintown Concerts helps users stay updated on concert announcements for their favorite artists, often providing early notifications R94R97. It aims to keep users informed about local shows and tours R94R97.

Better for: Bandsintown Concerts is better for music fans who want to track their favorite artists and receive notifications about upcoming concerts and tours R94R97. It's useful for planning concert attendance R94. However, users report issues with excessive emails, app crashes, and missed show listings R93R96.

Head-to-head: Shazam vs Bandsintown Concerts
nugs
4.8★ · 53,712 ratings · Free

nugs is an app for live music, allowing users to listen to recordings of concerts from various bands R108R111R114. It's appreciated for providing access to shows that users might not be able to attend R111R114.

Better for: nugs is better for dedicated live music fans who want to access a large library of concert recordings, especially from their favorite bands R108R111R114. It suits those who appreciate the quality of live recordings and want to revisit past shows . However, some users note issues with sorting playlists, web playback, app drops, and a lack of variety in livestreams R106R109.

Head-to-head: Shazam vs nugs
Stick with Shazam if

You should stick with Shazam if you mainly use it for occasional, quick song identification in loud environments and find its integration with Apple Music convenient .

Evidence note: Soundmap and nugs have fewer reviews compared to Shazam, YouTube, and SoundHound, which might limit the breadth of insights.

Frequently asked

Why is Shazam not identifying songs accurately anymore?
Many users report that Shazam's song identification accuracy has declined, frequently providing wrong song titles or failing to identify songs that were previously easy to recognize R1R12R16. Some also note it struggles with lower decibel music R13.
Does Shazam force Apple Music subscriptions?
Shazam frequently pushes users to subscribe to Apple Music, which many find annoying, especially if they prefer other streaming services or have repeatedly declined the offer R24R26R46R48.
What are common technical issues with Shazam?
Common technical issues with Shazam include problems with Siri integration, the app crashing, and issues with the Apple Watch application, such as welcome messages interrupting usage R4R6R7R20.
Is SoundHound a good alternative to Shazam?
While SoundHound was historically considered better than Shazam for music identification by some users, recent reviews indicate it also struggles with identifying songs and has functionality issues, with some users reporting it stopped working or now requires payment R79R82R83R84.
What is nugs for?
nugs is an app for live music enthusiasts, providing access to a large collection of concert recordings from various bands, allowing users to listen to shows they might not be able to attend R108R111R114.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R1] Shazam 2/5 · US What happened to Shazam: Shazam used to be great at identifying songs 90-95% of the time. If it didn’t know the answer it would tell me it couldn’t identify the song but something changed. I’m guessing it can identify songs correctly maybe 50-60% of the time. What’s really frustrating is when Shazam says it identified the songs by and it’s completely wrong. I knew the artist but wanted to find the
  2. [R12] Shazam 3/5 · US wrong song: More and more wrong songs!
  3. [R13] Shazam 1/5 · US CANT PICK UP ANY TUNES: I try to pick up tunes in a cafe and it seems SoundHound outperforms when music is a played at a lower decibel…I’m also impressed with another app that is able to pick up tunes at a low decibel. Apple, maybe implement Ai into Shazam to help with improving/enhancing the experience.
  4. [R15] Shazam 3/5 · GB One try: Sometimes brings up the wrong song
  5. [R4] Shazam 1/5 · US What did you do!?!?: Made awful changes can’t navigate. Complete fail from what it was the last 5 years. Deleted!
  6. [R6] Shazam 3/5 · US iWatch?: What happened to the iWatch app??? · translated
  7. [R7] Shazam 1/5 · US Erratic and inadequate Siri integration: When triggered from Siri Gives out the diff song titles and I cannot look back later in the library :(
  8. [R20] Shazam 1/5 · US Doesn’t work and has no support: For awhile, this app worked as advertised. Lately I’ve gotten interference from the advertising. I hear a song that I want information on, open Shazam and automatically an ad pops up that insists I respond to it before the app does anything else. Once I respond to the app, it drops me into the last identified song on hold. Now I have to close that window to get the
  9. [R24] Shazam 2/5 · US Good but annoying: Works great but very annoying if you don't have Apple music. The constant nagging and begging to sign up for Apple Music makes me want to use something else. If I've already declined the offer for the 49th time.. F off🤷🏿
  10. [R26] Shazam 1/5 · US Sidebar: Always trying to make me buy Apple Music I don’t want it, don’t even try to tempt me.
  11. [R46] Shazam 1/5 · GB Problematic: Always a problem with it!! Not helped by Apple forcing Apple Music options when you prefer and use Spotify over Apple Music!
  12. [R48] Shazam 1/5 · GB stupid app: show so many music wrong, also just wants to make money from users by push u to use apple music , if u didnt , they show u wrong all the songs or guide u by wrong singer names , wrong dj, or wrong title, i dont prefer this app
  13. [R52] YouTube 5/5 · US The best app there is: YouTube since I was a little kid and I love it. It’s helped me so much and taught me so much and changed my life. It showed me so much about history and everything I could ever think about if I was gonna give any money to any app that there is, it would be 200% all the time please YouTube don’t side with China
  14. [R53] YouTube 3/5 · US Too many ads: WAY too many ads for one video, especially to the longer videos like every 5 minutes there’s an add and the tiny ad box that appears in the corner when you skip one is just taking away from the experience of watching. It’s getting tiring but overall, I love the app and just see the ads as a little too excessive.
  15. [R56] YouTube 3/5 · US Fix your app: YouTube isn’t terrible but I have some complaints 1. Too many adds 2. Bring back the dislike button 3. Lower premium prices 4. Work on moderation I have seen videos and especially adds that should not be on YouTube.
  16. [R58] YouTube 5/5 · US Best app ever: Best app to hear music
  17. [R65] Soundmap 1/5 · US Scam: Game was super fun at first I enjoyed it so I bought premium, and they instantly banned me for as I know no reason at all. They would not answer the support or anything. I could no longer go into the app, so I deleted Games a big waste of time. They falsely ban constantly.
  18. [R67] Soundmap 3/5 · US Fun but Slow: This is my absolute favorite game, I’ve been playing for close to 2 years now but in the past 6 months the app has been extremely slow.
  19. [R68] Soundmap 1/5 · US Update: Day 645 of playing: Game has never worked completely right a single day. Customer service is awful and run by Ai. They will sweep you under the rug asap. Bought a song that hasn’t shown up for 30 hours. Just sold a song, game crashes and I get no money on my account. Literally the worst game in the world to be addicted to
  20. [R74] Soundmap 5/5 · US Been playing since 2024: I’ve been playing since 2024, the best choice i made was upgrading to soundmap pro, i’m not HUGE into this game like I used to just due to not having time/always driving so i can’t use the app in my travels (Soundmap Pokewalker when? Lol) That being said this is still such a fun game and concept, I love just being able to collect songs just from things i care about and l
  21. [R79] SoundHound 2/5 · US Struggling to identify: I will have music playing loud in my car or in a fitness class and it won't either recognize it or acts like nothing is playing
  22. [R80] SoundHound 4/5 · US Inferior to Encore: While this app is without doubt, inferior to Encore as far as recognition goes, it does have some redeeming qualities, one of which is playlists. Head to head with Encore, this app is bested by Encore on virtually every other feature. Encore has better recognition, faster, and considerably fewer dropped connections. But the playlists option is Soundhounds redemption in that
  23. [R82] SoundHound 1/5 · US Garbage: This app is a piece of garbage. I have trouble working at all the time on my iPhone 13. The phone works just fine. This is the only app that has a problem. It used to work just fine. It doesn’t need an update. My phone doesn’t need an update. This app is just garbage. It stops working all the time and I’m sick of it! Then I can’t figure out what the song is before the song is over. Than
  24. [R83] SoundHound 3/5 · US Does not ID music as it used to be: Have been using this app when it first came out. It was great back then and can identify music better than Shazam. But it does not ID music as it used to be.
  25. [R93] Bandsintown Concerts 1/5 · US Abuse: Do you like getting emails you didn’t opt into from a big variety of addresses, making it hard to block them all? Do you like when a company ignores email unsubscribes and spam reports? Yes? This is the app for you.
  26. [R94] Bandsintown Concerts 5/5 · US Always ahead: I love seeing concert announcements ahead of the rest. Gives us a jump on planning our concert selections year over years
  27. [R96] Bandsintown Concerts 1/5 · US Pos: Literally is always crashing, the app and website. No matter what i do. Started out of nowhere too, i’ve deleted the app restarted it everything and it keeps stating it has a network error… no updates or anything. Website does not let me log in and I honestly hate this app. 0/10 do not recommend
  28. [R97] Bandsintown Concerts 5/5 · US An App that keeps me up to date. Painless!!!: I’m a music guy that wants to stay up to date with my favorite thing in the world!!! Love it !!!
  29. [R106] Bandsintown Concerts 5/5 · US Bandsinintown continues: 10
  30. [R108] nugs 5/5 · US Can’t live without it: Love me some nugs! Keep the live music flowing!
  31. [R109] nugs 3/5 · US Web Play Broken: Playback through the web has been finicky for years. Mobile app works well. Sad that ReListen is free and works better. Reconsidering the purchase of nugs
  32. [R111] nugs 5/5 · US Nugs: Definitely spot on for all your favorite bands you can’t see or travel too. Scratches my itch
  33. [R16] Shazam 2/5 · US Poor: Just did a song 3 times 3 different results
  34. [R84] SoundHound 2/5 · US Charging After All These Years?: I can’t believe after a decade, this app stopped working only to find out they want money now. Boooooo, SoundHound. No thanks.
  35. [R114] nugs 5/5 · US Worth it: This is the best idea ever! I’m so much happier just listening to all the shows I want to go to instead of feeling like I can’t afford the tickets and travel

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store