Tunatic for Mac

Let your PC tell you what’s playing

Imagine your computer can listen to a song and tell you its name. That’s exactly what Tunatic aims to do: the app analyzes audio played through your speakers or microphone and tries to match it to its online database, returning the track title and artist when it finds a match.

Getting started: setup and basic steps

• Make sure your computer’s built-in microphone is enabled or that an external microphone is connected.
• Play the song you want identified in any media player or from another device so the sound reaches the microphone.
• Open Tunatic and click the question-mark (search) icon in the program window to send the audio sample for matching.

Tunatic listens briefly, uploads a fingerprint of the audio, and checks it against its server. If there’s a hit, the program displays the song title and performer.

What it can and can’t do

Tunatic can be impressively fast for some tracks, but it’s not perfect. Its success rate depends heavily on the size and quality of the developer-maintained database, so obscure or newly released songs might not be found. Background noise, poor microphone quality, or low-volume playback can also reduce accuracy.

Actions available after a match

Once Tunatic identifies a song, it offers a few quick follow-ups:

• Search for the tune in iTunes.
• Look for a ringtone version.
• Perform a web search (for example, to find lyrics).

These shortcuts make it easy to go from identification to listening, buying, or finding more information.

A free alternative to try

If you want another option, VLC media player is a popular, free multimedia application. It won’t identify songs by listening, but it’s widely recommended for playback and format support if you’re organizing or previewing audio files. Worth trying alongside Tunatic depending on your needs.