What Song Is Playing on the Radio? Five Ways to Find Out

Published 26 September 2026

A song comes on the radio, you love it, and the DJ doesn't say what it was. Or you heard something in the car yesterday and have one line of the chorus. Both are solvable — the first in seconds, the second usually in a few minutes. Here is every method, from quickest to most thorough.

1. Ask your phone while it's playing

Song recognition is built into both major phone platforms now.

• iPhone: add Music Recognition to Control Centre (Settings → Control Centre) and tap it while the song plays, or ask Siri "What song is this?". Both use Shazam, which Apple owns.
• Android: open the Google app and tap the microphone, then Search a song, or ask Google Assistant "What's this song?". Pixel phones can also identify music playing nearby automatically with Now Playing, on the phone itself.
• Shazam and SoundHound as apps do the same on any phone, and keep a history of everything you've tagged.

Recognition works well on the radio as long as the music is reasonably clear of talk — try again when the presenter stops speaking.

2. Hum it

If the song has finished, you can still find it. The Google app's Search a song accepts humming, whistling or singing — ten or fifteen seconds is usually enough — and SoundHound recognises singing too. You don't need to be in tune; the melody's shape is what matters.

3. Look at the stream's own title

Many internet radio streams broadcast the current artist and title alongside the audio. Players such as VLC show it as the title of what's playing, and many stations display it on their own website player. If you're listening on a computer, open the station's stream in VLC — how to find a station's stream URL explains where to get it — and the song name appears as it changes.

4. Check the station's playlist

Most stations publish what they've played. Look on the station's website for Recently played, Playlist, Last songs or Tracklist — public broadcasters usually list the tracks on each programme's page, and music stations often show the last ten or twenty songs with times. On 72FM, every station page links to the station's own website.

This is the best method for a song you heard hours or days ago: if you know roughly when and on which station, the playlist will have it.

5. Ask

For specialist shows and DJ mixes, playlists are often incomplete. The station itself will usually answer a polite message with the date, time and programme. For club and DJ mixes, tracklist sites built by listeners often have the answer.

Keeping track of what you hear

• Tag as you go. Shazam, SoundHound and the Google app all keep a history, so tagging a song is also saving it.
• Save the station too. If a station keeps playing songs you tag, favourite it on 72FM so it's one tap away next time.

The short version

While it's playing: tap Music Recognition on iPhone or Search a song on Android. After it's finished: hum it to the Google app. Days later: check the station's playlist page.