App review: Shazam

Shazam is an app which can identify and find lyrics for music played remotely.

Available free on iOS and Android via www.shazam.com

Ages: 11 to 25

Review

Cam

Reviewed by Cam (16) who is moderately to severely deaf and wears hearing aids.

"When I first downloaded Shazam, I found it easy to use and quite helpful. I haven’t ever used an app like this before and was very surprised when I found out all of its features.

Shazam’s main feature is telling you what song you’re listening to. For example, if you’re listening to a song on the radio and you don’t know what it’s called, open up Shazam and it will tell you. The app also tells you facts about the song, including the release date, genre, and even the date and time that you ‘Shazamed’ it.

Usually, music has to be quite loud for me to hear it, especially when I’m out of the house. But recently I was sitting in a café and my mum was singing along to a song the café was playing on the radio. I couldn’t hear the song, so I took out my phone and Shazam told me what the song was. When I got home I listened to the song and really liked it.

The lyric feature is also super helpful. Shazam listens to the part of the song you’re listening to, and tells you the lyrics as they’re being played
out loud.

In my personal experience of the app, I wish that the features were more clearly labelled as I had to search round the app to find some of the best and most helpful additions. But now that I’ve got the hang of it, I will continue to use it as it’s helped me loads. I definitely recommend it!"