What is Audio Recognition and How Does It Work?

Audio Recognition listens to your track and compares it with a global catalog of recorded music. If something in your audio sounds like another recording, it shows you the closest matches, how confident the match is, and where you can listen to it.

Use it to catch problems early: an uncleared sample, a loop that is also in someone else’s song, or a beat you bought that other artists have used too. Finding out before you release gives you time to fix it.

Who can use it

Audio Recognition is a premium feature, so you need a paid plan to run scans.

If you are on the Free plan you can still open the page and look around. When you click Start scan, you will see an upgrade prompt instead.

Before you scan

• Your track needs audio. Audio Recognition scans the audio you uploaded to your release. Upload your tracks to a release first (a draft is fine), then come back to scan.
• Scan your final master. If you replace the audio later, run the scan again so the result matches what you are releasing.
• Some releases cannot be scanned. Releases that have been taken down or archived do not appear in the list.
• You cannot upload a file directly on the Audio Recognition page. Tracks come from your releases.

How to scan a track

1. Open Audio Recognition from your dashboard.
2. Click New Scan (or Run your first scan if this is your first time).
3. Select a release. Use the search box to find it by title or UPC. If you have many releases, use the page numbers at the bottom.
4. Select tracks. Tick the tracks you want to check, or use Select all to pick every track on the release. Then click Select Tracks.
5. Confirm & scan. Check the list, then click Start scan.

You can scan up to 25 tracks at once. If a track is already being scanned, you will not get a second scan started for it.

While your scan runs

Your scan appears in the list with a Processing tag. Most scans finish within a few minutes, and longer tracks can take a little more.

You do not need to wait on the page. You can leave, and the result will be there when you come back. If a scan takes unusually long (over about 30 minutes), it is marked Failed and you can run it again with Rescan.

Reading your scan list

Each scan shows the cover art, track title, artist, release name, ISRC and a status tag:

At the top of the page you will also see your totals: scans run, how many matched, how many are clean, your match rate and the number of releases you have scanned. Use the search box to find a past scan by track or artist name.

Reading the details

Click Details on any finished scan to see the closest matches, up to 10. For each one you will see:

• Match confidence, shown as a percentage and a coloured bar
• Title, artist, album, release date, label, genre and duration
• ISRC and UPC codes
• Available on buttons that open the track on Spotify, Deezer or YouTube, when a link is available

The colour of the bar tells you how seriously to take a match:

Why does my own song show up as a match?

If your track is already live, or you released the same recording before, the scan will recognise it. When the match has the same ISRC or UPC as one of your own releases, it is labelled Your release and is not counted as a possible match. This is expected and is not a problem.

What to do if you get a possible match

1. Listen to it. Open the Spotify, Deezer or YouTube button and compare it with your track.
2. Work out why it matches. Common reasons are a sample or loop, a cover or remix, a beat or sound pack that other artists also used, or a re-upload of your own music under another name.
3. Decide what to do. If you used someone else’s recording or sample, make sure you have permission or a licence, or replace that part. If it is a sound pack or beat you are licensed to use, keep your licence details handy. If it is a false alarm, you can carry on.
4. Rescan after changes. Upload the updated audio to your release, then run Rescan.

Audio Recognition is a guide, not a legal opinion. If you are unsure about a match, contact support before you release.

Rescan, delete and archive

• Rescan runs the scan again for the same track. Use it after you replace your audio or if a scan failed. It is not available while a scan is processing.
• Delete scan (the three-dot menu on a scan) removes the scan and its results from your list. This cannot be undone.
• Archive (on the Details page) removes the scan from your list.

Good to know

• Results are a reference. A scan can miss things, and it can flag things that turn out to be fine. “Clean” does not guarantee that a track is free of any issue.
• It matches recorded music. Very new or unreleased music from other people may not be in the catalog yet. Heavily changed audio (sped up, pitched, or buried in other sounds) can be harder to recognise.
• There is a daily scan limit. If you reach it, you will see a message asking you to try again the next day.

Troubleshooting

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to scan every track? No. Scanning is optional, but it is a quick way to check before you submit a release.

Can I scan a release that is still a draft? Yes, as long as the track has audio uploaded.

Can I scan several tracks at once? Yes, up to 25 at a time from the same release.

What does the percentage mean? It shows how closely your audio matches the other recording. Higher means closer.

Can I scan a file from my computer? Not on this page. Upload it to a release as a track, then scan it from there.

Can I see old results? Yes. Every finished scan stays in your list until you delete or archive it.

Still need help?

Contact our support team from your dashboard and include the track name and release title so we can help faster.