In macOS Sonoma 14.2, Apple included some additional controls for Shazam music recognition, which is now baked into the Mac operating system more than ever. Here's how to add the functionality to your Mac's menu bar and Control Center.

shazam for mac
For those unfamiliar with Shazam, it's an Apple-owned popular service that can identify the names and lyrics of songs, music videos, TV shows, and more, simply by listening to and deciphering whatever is playing.

After years of ‌‌Siri‌‌ integration, Apple acquired Shazam in 2018, and integrated it into iOS and iPadOS as a system-level song recognition function. With macOS 14.2, the same level of integration has finally come to Mac.
shazam

Previously, the Shazam app for macOS was necessary to add Shazam to your Mac's menu bar, or you could ask Siri to identify a song. Now there are two other ways to access Shazam that are built-in to the system.

The Shazam menu bar item and the Control Center button can be used to prompt Shazam to start listening to the currently playing song. The dropdown menu also includes a history of any songs you previously have identified using the feature.

To open a song in Shazam on the web, click its title. To open the song in the Music app, click the music icon. To delete an entry, click the trash icon and choose Delete Song to confirm the operation. This will delete the song from your Shazam history across all devices with the Music Recognition option enabled in iCloud's sync settings.

How to Add Shazam to You Mac's Menu Bar

  1. Click the Apple symbol in your Mac's menu bar and select System Settings....
  2. Select Control Center in the side column.
  3. In the Music Recognition section, toggle on the switches next to Show in Menu Bar and/or Show in Control Center.

shazam

Don't forget that on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, HomePod, and Mac, you can ask Siri what song is playing, and the result of these requests will also appear in your Music Recognition listening history.

Tag: Shazam

Top Rated Comments

a m u n Avatar
18 months ago
Shazam is one of the best apps and one of Apple’s best acquisitions, especially given its seamless integration with Apple Music.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
arkitect Avatar
18 months ago
Well that is a handy tip.
I did not even know this was available.

I'll never miss a tune again… Watch, iPhone, Mac…

Thanks.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
randyhudson Avatar
18 months ago
With all the information Apple have about what music people are listening to, it's shocking how bad Apple Music is.

I'll create a station from a song and 12 songs later it's already repeating.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ComRadMac Avatar
18 months ago
I can't imagine too many situations in which you're listening to music on your computer and it's giving you no information on what that song is. TV shows maybe?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Flamingdeathbolts Avatar
18 months ago

Shazam is one of the best apps and one of Apple’s best acquisitions, especially given its seamless integration with Apple Music.
Didn’t know Shazam is owned by Apple. For sure going to get it on my phone now. Soundhound has left me dissatisfied lately as they don’t update frequently enough with new songs.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
philstubbington Avatar
18 months ago

Will it show a synced list on the Mac of all the Shazams that you have on your phone? Not ready yet to install Sonoma, but curious. Before (with the macOS Shazam app) nothing was ever synced, even though the settings for iCloud were set.
Seems so. It took a good few seconds to retrieve my list on my Mac, but it’s there :)

There’s a iCloud Sync option on the iPhone app, so I guess that’s where it comes from.

4236 songs showing on my iPhone and same on the Mac.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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