1. Use Shazam or MusicID. These are popular apps that analyze sounds and identify songs from their database of recordings. If you've got Shazam on your phone and hear a song you can't identify and don't know anything about, activate the app and hold it toward the audio source and wait for a result.1  Shazam can be used on iPhone, Blackberry, Android and most other mobile devices. 2  These apps typically don't work as well with live performances.. Search for the context of the song to help narrow it down. If you're looking for a song you heard during the credits of a TV show, do a quick search for Song playing at the end of Sopranos Episode Six, Season Five or Song in Mazda commercial.. 1  If you think you're getting close, use iTunes.