Midomi (Melodis Corporation)

Cost as reviewed: FREE

Although this app is similar to Shazam, which I reviewed previously (see here), Midomi is currently in the top 25 on iTunes so I thought I should give it a try to see if it improves on what I love about Shazam.

What can I say?  I’m amazed at the people who can put together an app like this (or Shazam for that matter).  Being able to search a database of music to find a specific song is awesome.  The main difference between Midomi and Shazam is that Midomi gives you more ways to search for music.  You can sing or hum a part of a song, or you can speak the song’s title.  You can grab a bit of music that is playing on the radio (much like Shazam) and you can also simply type in an artist or song to search using text.

Once of the greatest things about this app is that once it searches the database and returns the possible matches to the song you’re looking for, it will allow you to play a preview of that song from right inside the app so you can determine whether it found the right song.  In my testing, it always listed the song I intended as the first result, although it also listed a whole bunch of results that seemed to make no sense (see my screenshots).  Once you find the song you want, you can click on the arrow to get more information and it will let you bookmark the song, buy it from iTunes, or search for videos on YouTube.  You can also access artist and album information from this interface.

Although this app does give you a lot of information and it provides a lot of ways to search for music, I think I like the interface of Shazam a little better.  Midomi seems a little too cartoony for me, whereas Shazam looks a bit more modern with the black background.  If you’re into music and sometimes find yourself humming a tune that you can’t identify, then Midomi might be able to help you.  If you just hear things on the radio or playing in a store or bar and want to know what the song is, then either of these apps will probably work for you (although I didn’t test Midomi in a noisy setting the way I tested Shazam).

Midomi Website