AcoustID

AcoustID is a project providing a complete audio identification service based entirely on open-source software. The service is completely free for non-commercial applications.

How It Works

AcoustID uses audio fingerprinting to identify tracks and returns basic MusicBrainz metadata including:

• Track title, artist, and album information
• MusicBrainz IDs for recordings, artists, and releases

For additional enhanced metadata like artist biography and website links, MusicBrainz must also be enabled for local lookups.

Requirements

• Register your application to get an API key
• fpcalc binary installed on your system
• MusicBrainz enabled for enhanced metadata (optional but recommended)

Limitations

• AcoustID's database is not as large or comprehensive as commercial services like Shazam
• Only samples the beginning of songs, so tracks with long introductions or extended intros may not be identified correctly

Setup Instructions

1. Install the fpcalc binary appropriate for your operating system
2. Open Settings from the What's Now Playing icon
3. Select Recognition->AcoustID from the left-hand column
4. Check "Enable Music Recognition by AcoustID"
5. Enter the API Key you received from AcoustID registration
6. Set the location of the fpcalc executable
7. Click Save

What's Now Playing will now use AcoustID to identify untagged tracks and provide basic metadata that was not available from your DJ software or file tags.

Tip: Enable MusicBrainz as well to get enhanced metadata including artist biographies, website links, and additional track details beyond what AcoustID provides.