Audio Fingerprinting for Music and Media Identification

Recognize songs, ads and broadcast content from a short audio sample, across files, live streams and radio and TV, with an API built for production scale.

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150 million+ tracks in the music reference database, constantly updated
50,000+ radio and TV stations available for monitoring
Results within seconds

What is audio fingerprinting?

Audio fingerprinting is a way to identify a piece of audio, such as a song, an ad or a TV segment, without relying on file names, embedded metadata or prior watermarks. If the content matches a known item in the catalogue, the API returns its verified metadata, standard identifiers and track positions.

Want the technical side? Our solutions team can walk you through integration options for your use case. Contact Sales →

What teams use audio fingerprinting for

Song identification in apps and devices.

Let users find out what's playing, in your app, car or smart device.

Music Recognition →

Broadcast monitoring.

Track music airplay and ads across radio and TV, with ISRC/UPC in the results, for reporting, royalties and ad verification.

Broadcast Monitoring →

Copyright compliance for UGC platforms.

Detect copyrighted music in user uploads before or after publishing, returning the underlying identifiers so your platform can apply its own rules (block, monetize, or attribute).

Catalogue deduplication and metadata enrichment.

Spot duplicate or mislabelled tracks in large catalogues and attach standard identifiers.

Music Metadata →

Second-screen and audience experiences.

Retrieve exact broadcast timestamps and airplay metadata to power synchronized mobile apps, interactive TV experiences, or ratings measurement.

Second Screen Sync → Audience Measurement →

Custom content.

Upload your own audio, such as ads, jingles, shows or podcasts, to a private database and detect it wherever it plays.

Broadcast Monitoring →

Why ACRCloud

One of the largest music reference databases: 150 million+ tracks, constantly updated, with links to major streaming services and ISRC/UPC codes.
Built for files, streams and live broadcast: the same service covers uploaded files, URLs, live streams and 50,000+ radio and TV stations.
Works on real-world audio: designed for production conditions such as background noise, voice-overs and short clips.
Fast: results within seconds.
Developer-friendly: REST APIs, SDKs and a console to manage projects, buckets and monitoring. Docs →

Audio fingerprinting vs. watermarking

	Audio fingerprinting	Audio watermarking
Do you need to change the content first?	No. Works on content as it already exists, including third-party and archive content.	Yes. Content has to be prepared before it is distributed.
Typical use	Identify any song, ad or broadcast you don't control; copyright checks on uploads; airplay monitoring	Track your own content through a distribution chain you control
Coverage	Anything in the reference catalogue	Only content that was prepared in advance

Choose fingerprinting when you need to recognize content you don't own or didn't prepare, such as music in user uploads or songs on the radio. Teams that already watermark their own content often use fingerprinting alongside it for everything else. Not sure which fits? Ask our team →

How to get started

Create a free account in the ACRCloud console (14-day free trial, no credit card required).
Pick a project type, for example music recognition, broadcast monitoring or file scanning, or upload your own content to a custom bucket.
Call the API or use an SDK from your app or backend. Docs →
Go live, and talk to Sales about volume pricing when you scale.

FAQ

What is audio fingerprinting used for?

Identifying songs, ads and broadcast content from a short audio sample, for song-ID features, airplay and ad monitoring, copyright compliance on user uploads, catalogue deduplication and second-screen experiences.

How big is ACRCloud's music database?

More than 150 million tracks, and it is constantly updated.

Can I identify my own content, not just commercial music?

Yes. You can upload your own audio, such as ads, jingles or shows, to a private database and detect it in files, streams and broadcasts.

Which radio and TV stations can I monitor?

ACRCloud's broadcast database covers 50,000+ radio and TV stations worldwide, and you can add custom stream URLs.

How fast are results?

Within seconds for typical recognition requests.

Is audio fingerprinting the same as watermarking?

No. Fingerprinting recognizes content as it is; watermarking requires preparing content in advance. See the comparison above.

How do I try it?

Start a 14-day free trial in the ACRCloud console. No credit card is required.