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Don't lie but every one of you reading right now has come across a situation where you just don't remember the lyrics of a song but are completely aware of the chords and keep humming and be like, "It's like, hm hmmmm hmmmmmm."
Like yes, so beautifully detailed humming that anyone could get; sarcasm. Anyways, searching for a song with simply the chords and tune in mind is a hassle as you simply can't type in the humming and expect to get results.
However, there are services and applications from Google (1), Apple, and Shazam (2) that have already taken care of the humming problems and developed tools that allow you to continue humming as they identify the song you are trying to sing.
But new to the race is YouTube which is preparing its entry to the fray. YouTube is testing a new feature that allows users to search for a song by recording or simply humming it for more than three seconds (3).
The "song search" tool which is currently rolling to a limited number of users can be accessed via YouTube's "voice search" which identifies the song and displays the official music content, user-generated videos, and shorts, associated with the humming.
It is completely similar to Google's "Hum to Search" but it is rumored that YouTube's version is faster and requires only three seconds to identify the song from your recording or humming audio.
hm hm hm hm hahahaha hm by Gotye ft. Kimbra
The new feature that is under testing by YouTube is currently rolling in a small percentage of YouTube users of Android smartphones. It identifies a track based on a humming sound made for three or more seconds.
The new feature is promisingly convenient and a must-have YouTube should have been released before. But since it is rather later than never, YouTube surely did it at the right time when users are moving back to old songs, as new ones are getting unlistenable.
However, the functions of the new tool are the same as Google's "Hum to Search" which was released in 2020 for recognizing tunes, music, and audio. It should also be noted that the feature is currently in the test mode and is not fully available, it might also get rejected or delayed.
There are talks that the feature will be rolling out for more users in the following weeks. The release of this feature itself has been a hit news for the company as consumers are benefiting from it and are similarly excited to test for themselves.
However, there are concerns that the feature might get locked behind YouTube Premium which just began increasing access to the "1080p Premium" video option with increased bitrate for its paid members (4).
Well, that's something it shall unleash with time but for now, if you have received the option to test the new feature, simply you are a lucky charm. All you have to do is simply go to the search bar and switch from "voice search" to "song search.'
Now start humming or recording any song and check if it can be recognized. The application will probably send you official music content if it is recognized and similar or related to user-generated videos or shorts from its substantially larger collection of both authorized and user-created content.
Google has also assured its users that the new YouTube test feature is a lot better and faster than Google's "Hum to Search." YouTube's test feature has a faster iteration that can detect the song in three or more seconds while for "Hum to Search" it takes a minimum of 15 seconds of audio.
Before it was YouTube Music that made headlines for an update focused on user-experience and prioritized user preference and now the recent update is focused on user convenience. YouTube is advancing peacefully and calmly with the market which adds it to the list of must-track.
