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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Shazam vs Bandsintown Concerts

Shazam 4.9★ · Free to download 75
Winner Shazam
Bandsintown Concerts 4.7★ · Free to download 60

Shazam is better for identifying songs, despite recent complaints about accuracy, while Bandsintown is the choice for concert discovery, though it suffers from significant reliability issues.

Full reviews: Shazam · Bandsintown Concerts

Shazam excels at identifying music, with many users finding it indispensable, though recent updates have led to complaints about accuracy and intrusive ads. Bandsintown is praised for helping users find concerts and get early access to tickets, but it is plagued by app crashes, network errors, and excessive notifications.

Head to head

Core Functionality (Song ID vs. Concert Discovery) edge: ShazamR1R5R8R12
Shazam Shazam's core function of identifying songs is highly valued by users, helping them discover new music and recall old favorites R5R8R14. However, a significant number of recent reviews indicate a decline in accuracy, with the app frequently misidentifying songs or failing to recognize them entirely R1R12R13R16.
Bandsintown Concerts Bandsintown is highly effective for concert discovery, allowing users to stay updated on their favorite artists and find shows in their area . Users appreciate getting early announcements and access to tickets . However, some users report that the app misses many shows and is not comprehensive .
Ease of Use & User Interface tieR4R14R22R29
Shazam Some users find Shazam easy to use and handy R14R29, with one user calling the UI 'very accessible' . However, recent updates have led to complaints about navigation difficulties R4, annoying user experience elements like showing the previous song , and intrusive ads that interrupt the song identification process R22R32.
Bandsintown Concerts Bandsintown's UI is described as 'very accessible' and 'clean' by some , and users find it super convenient for finding shows . However, many users report significant issues with the interface, calling it 'garbage' and 'poorly designed' . There are complaints about unnecessary features like the AI icon and difficulty in buying tickets due to redirects .
Reliability & Performance edge: ShazamR2R7R32R38
Shazam Shazam is praised by long-time users for its consistent performance over many years R2. However, recent reviews frequently mention the app freezing R32, not working at all R38, or being erratic with Siri integration R7.
Bandsintown Concerts Bandsintown suffers from frequent crashes and network errors, making it unusable for many users R64R69R70R72. Users report issues with the app not staying logged in and failing to sync .
Notifications & Customization edge: ShazamR26R28R61R67
Shazam Shazam has limited discussion on notifications, but some users complain about constant nagging to sign up for Apple Music R26R28.
Bandsintown Concerts Bandsintown is heavily criticized for excessive and intrusive notifications and emails R61R67. Users report receiving notifications for bands they don't follow or for events far away . There are also complaints about notifications being 'baity' and the inability to unfollow certain bands .
Integration & Syncing tieR7R21R25R41
Shazam Shazam users appreciate its ability to immediately find identified songs on Apple Music R41 and provide lyrics R25. However, recent changes have removed the ability to log in and sync Shazam songs across multiple devices, which is a significant frustration for users R21. There are also complaints about erratic Siri integration R7.
Bandsintown Concerts Bandsintown allows users to link with streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube to recommend shows based on taste . It also connects to ticketing platforms like Ticketmaster and AXS . However, users report issues with Apple Music connection and the app failing to use the AXS app on iPhone . Some users dislike being forced to connect streaming services .
Pick Shazam if

you primarily need to identify songs playing around you and want a generally reliable tool for music discovery R5R8R14.

Pick Bandsintown Concerts if

you are a concert-goer who wants to stay updated on your favorite artists' tours and get early access to tickets, and are willing to tolerate app instability and excessive notifications .

Evidence note: Shazam has a much larger volume of reviews, with recent negative reviews focusing on a decline in accuracy and intrusive ads after Apple's acquisition. Bandsintown's reviews are more recent and heavily skewed negative due to widespread reliability and notification issues.

Frequently asked

Is Shazam still accurate at identifying songs?
Recent reviews for Shazam indicate a decline in accuracy, with many users reporting that the app frequently misidentifies songs or fails to recognize them, though others still find it effective R1R12R13R16.
Does Bandsintown have issues with crashing or network errors?
Yes, many users report that Bandsintown frequently crashes and experiences network errors, making the app unusable for concert discovery R64R69R70R72.
Do both apps have intrusive ads or notifications?
Shazam users complain about constant nagging to sign up for Apple Music and ads that pop up during use R22R26R28R32. Bandsintown is heavily criticized for excessive and intrusive emails and notifications, often for bands not followed or events far away R61R67.

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. [R5] Shazam 5/5 · US Keeps us current: Old songs, new songs, songs we forget who sang them, Shazam keeps us current. Thank you Shazam.
  3. [R8] Shazam 5/5 · US BEST WEBSITE FOR SONGS: Thanks to this app I can find my song that I have in mind
  4. [R12] Shazam 3/5 · US wrong song: More and more wrong songs!
  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. [R14] Shazam 5/5 · US Nice and handy: Great to get an artist for a song you heard but don’t know the artist
  7. [R22] 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
  8. [R29] Shazam 5/5 · US Appreciation!: It is so nice to have a way to help remember names of songs!!!
  9. [R2] Shazam 4/5 · US Couldn't live without you: I use your app on a daily basis. I think a lot of people gave up I didn't.
  10. [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 :(
  11. [R32] Shazam 1/5 · US Much worse than the original: Apple took something good and destroyed it when they acquired it. You could touch it 25 times and it still won’t start to recognize the song, it freezes. It’s loaded with ads, I missed the old version and I hope someone launches a viable competitor very soon.
  12. [R38] Shazam 1/5 · US TERRIBLE: Didn't work at all. None of the songs were recognized
  13. [R26] 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🤷🏿
  14. [R28] 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.
  15. [R61] 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.
  16. [R67] Bandsintown Concerts 1/5 · US Excessive emails: I looked once for a concert and now receive multiple emails every single day. So annoying!!
  17. [R21] Shazam 3/5 · GB You Can no longer log in to my account via the app or other platforms: It is dumb that I can no longer sign in to my account via the app. I used Shazam on my iPad, Personal mobile phone as well as my work mobile phone. I also use Shazam on my smart watch. I used to be able to sync my Shazam songs using my account, this is no longer the case. How am I supposed to keep track of my music on other
  18. [R25] Shazam 5/5 · US I like it.: It gets most of the songs I put in to identify. Giving me the lyrics is a big plus too. I recommend this app.
  19. [R41] Shazam 5/5 · US Full circle: About the time my daughter was graduating from CU Boulder in 2007, she made several mixtapes on CD for me. I lost track of them about 10 years ago and recently found them at the bottom of my car’s console (yes, I’ve had the car that long). Thanks to Shazam, I’ve been able not only to identify the song and artist, but to immediately find it on Apple Music. Now I can create a playlist a
  20. [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.
  21. [R16] Shazam 2/5 · US Poor: Just did a song 3 times 3 different results
  22. [R64] 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
  23. [R69] Bandsintown Concerts 3/5 · US Bad network: Networking does not seem to work well
  24. [R70] Bandsintown Concerts 2/5 · US What happened?!: Recent updates have ruined all functionality on my iPhone. Went from 5 stars to basically zero for not functioning
  25. [R72] Bandsintown Concerts 3/5 · US Crashes Uploading Event Pic: Even after multiple updates it crashes when you try and add image to an event you create. Loses your progress and makes you restart.

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