Comment by lordgrenville
2 hours ago
I think what makes Shazam magically "just work" is that they are searching for the exact embedding of the recorded version of the song - it doesn't work for a cover version, acapella, etc even if it is very similar. (Everyone would want an app that you can hum into and it will ID the song, but I guess it's a very tough problem.)
Merlin is solving the more general problem so makes sense that it's much more finicky and less accurate.
> an app that you can hum into and it will ID the song
YouTube Music and Google Search do OK with these types. Sometimes if I know a song well enough, I will open YT Music, activate the mic search, and sing a few bars, instead of typing the song title.
According to Gemini, SoundHound is also a good app for song-hummers to try.