How to Search for a Music Video by Describing It

Uh oh! You’ve got a song stuck in your head, or a really cool shot from a music video, and you just can’t remember the name. Luckily, internet searches are better than ever, and you don’t need the name. Here are a few easy tricks so you can find what you’re looking for no matter what.

1. Search the Lyrics

If you remember even a single line from the song you’re trying to remember, just search it on Google or YouTube. If that still doesn’t do it, or the line is too generic, you can easily append the search with a few descriptors. The genre (rap, metal, indie, etc.) can be a major indicator. If you know the song is new, you can include the current year. It should be easy to find the music video if you remember any details about the lyrics or the genre.

2. Refine Your Search

If you’re 100% positive in your memory of the lyrics you can include them in quotes, so that the search engine looks for that exact phrase. This is great if there are some common words used in the line.

On YouTube specifically, you can click on the “Filters” button after searching in order to narrow your search further. You can narrow the upload date if you know it was recent, you can search for the duration (there is an “Under 4 Minutes” preset perfect for most music videos), and more.

3. Hum or Sing into an App

Many song-identifying apps actually support humming or singing into the app in order to find a song. If you can hum the melody well enough then you might actually be able to find the song. Google voice search even supports it. So try something like Shazam, Soundhound, or MusicPedia to hum or play guitar/piano from the song and see if it can identify it! Or of course, just pull up Google search if you’d rather use your search engine.