Google added a new feature that lets you figure out which song is stuck in your head by humming, whistling, or singing - a much more useful version of the kind of song-matching audio functionality that it and competitors like Apple's Shazam have previously offered. Starting today, users will be able to open the latest version of the Google mobile app or Google Search widget, then tap the microphone icon and verbally ask them to search for a song or press the "Search for a song" button and starts making noises.
The feature should be available for anyone using Google in English on iOS or in over 20 languages already on Android, and the company says the user group will grow in more languages across both platforms in the future. Unsurprisingly, it is powered behind the scenes by machine learning algorithms developed by the company.
Google says the matching technology won't require you to be a Broadway star or even a choir member - it has built-in capabilities to accommodate varying degrees of musical sensitivity and will provide a percentage confidence score along with a number of possible matches. Clicking on any match will return additional information about the artist and the track, as well as music videos and links that allow you to hear the entire song in the music app of your choice.
Google explains in a blog post announcing the feature that it is capable of doing this because it basically ignores the confusion that is the quality of your voice, any accompanying instruments, tone, and other details. The algorithm is basically reducing the song to its essence and creating a number pattern that represents its essence, or what Google calls its "fingerprint".
This is an evolution of the way Google's existing music recognition technology works, which is featured in the passive "Now Playing" feature available on its Pixel smartphones. That function will passively listen to the music in the background and provide a match when it finds one in its offline database (all done locally). The same technology is at work in the SoundSearch feature that Google later introduced via its app.
Google isn't the first to do this: SoundHound's Midomi offers musical pairings by singing or humming. But Google is obviously much more widely used, so it will be interesting to see if it can achieve better success rates and overall usage.
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