FAQ+: Tunefind Explains How To Be A Song Detective
Music discovery through our favorite movies, TV series, and video games often occurs by chance as you stumble upon a song while absorbed in the on-screen action. Synced songs are carefully chosen to evoke specific emotions, and through sync, you can discover music that deeply resonates with you and amplifies your emotional connection to the content. Tunefind was created with this very scenario in mind. Tunefind is focused on helping fans identify and discover songs used in films, television shows, video games, and even commercial advertisements. Tunefind provides a comprehensive database of music used in various media and offers a community-driven platform for discussion and song identification.
If, by chance, the song you are looking for has yet to be identified and entered on Tunefind, that doesn’t mean your search has to be over. In this entry of our FAQ+, we share some tips, tricks, and best practices on stepping into the role of a Tunefind detective and tracking down that elusive earworm. The game is afoot!
A Songs Fingerprint
If you are on the hunt for that song you heard on screen, you can utilize various tools to solve your musical mystery. Shazam is a software application you can download on your phone or access in a web browser that will listen to the music playing and attempt to identify the song it hears through your microphone. It uses an algorithm to create and detect a “fingerprint” of audio samples for over 15 billion songs. When you Shazam a song, it then searches its vast database of audio samples, and if it finds a match, it will return the song title and artist along with other data. Shazam is one of the most famous music recognition software, but there are alternatives. Many music streaming platforms have built-in tools similar to Shazam that you can use the same way, and some of the most popular virtual assistants like Google and Amazon’s Alexa have built-in music recognition abilities.
There are a few things to remember when utilizing song recognition software. Like many pieces of technology, it is only sometimes 100% correct or effective. It is not out of the realm of possibility that the result you receive is the incorrect song or that you get no matches on your audio sample. Classical, instrumental, and unreleased music can prove challenging for this kind of software. Often the music in movies and TV is interwoven with dialogue or other background noise that can interfere with the application’s ability to hear a clear sample of the music. Sometimes the music synced with pictures has to be edited to fit the scene, which can create an obstacle for song recognition.
Due Credit
The credits and subtitles of movies, TV shows, and video games can be beneficial when identifying songs. Stay tuned until the end of the movie or TV show, and pay attention to the credits. Sometimes, the song titles and artists are listed, mainly if they played a significant role in the production. Many video games include a dedicated section in the menu or the game’s credits, highlighting the songs and artists featured in the game. If you’re watching a subtitled version of a movie or TV show, the subtitles may provide song details. Keep an eye out for notations like “(upbeat music playing)” or “(song title) by (artist) playing in the background.” End credits are more authoritative and accurate ways to find the same songs used in film and television. Subtitles are also a great tool, but they can sometimes be incorrect, and not all subtitles will name the song and artist directly.
Gathering Intel
Sometimes that song you seek is more elusive than anticipated, and the trail goes cold. Tunefind has a community of millions of music lovers just like you who are known to participate in discussions, share their findings, and assist one another in identifying music. You can use this community to your advantage by contributing to Q&A, asking questions, and sharing your knowledge. The pooled knowledge of the community can often offer insightful advice and help you solve any song identification enigmas. You can go to the specific show episode or movie page and ask a question or follow an existing question asked by someone else. Our community will do its best to find your missing song.
If your fellow Tunefind community members cannot help identify the song, that doesn’t mean all hope is lost! If the community is abuzz with song-searching activity within the Q&A threads across the site, Tunefind Moderators will often notice the flurry of activity. Sometimes Tunefind is lucky enough to be able to contact the music supervisor that works on the content. Music supervisors are highly skilled professionals who help choose and license the music featured in the movie, TV series or game. If anyone knows the songs from the screen, it would be them. If the Tunefind team can, they will ask the music supervisor directly to share the song information, and a Tunefind Moderator will share the information in the applicable Q&A thread.
Fun fact: Sometimes, a song is almost impossible to identify because it is unreleased. However, when Tunefind can express the communities interest in the song to the music supervisor responsible for the sync, they can share the interest with the artist or music publisher. The Tunefind community has been known to encourage the public release of a previously unavailable song!
Case Closed
Become a Tunefind detective to discover music in a whole new way. You can identify the songs that go with your favorite media by using tools like Shazam, paying attention to credits and subtitles, and interacting with the Tunefind community. So the next time a song captures your attention, you can set out on a musical hunt to solve its mystery. Happy Tunefind-ing!
