How to Find the Song Behind an Original Sound on TikTok, Reels and Shorts

Four methods, from free to reliable

Most music on TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts is labeled “original sound”. That label only means the uploader added the audio themselves. The real song can be a chart hit, a sped-up remix or a two-year-old indie track, and the app won’t tell you which.

These are the methods I use, roughly in the order I try them.

1. Read the comments first

On popular videos, someone has usually asked “song?” already. Sort by top comments and look for a reply with a title. It’s free, but on smaller videos nobody has answered yet.

2. Tap the sound and look at other videos

The sound page lists every video using that audio. Sometimes a bigger creator used the same sound and named the song in their caption.

3. Use audio fingerprinting on the video link

This is the reliable option. Fingerprinting compares a few seconds of audio against a large database of recorded songs, so it works even when the track is pitched up, slowed down or under someone talking. I paste the video link into ClipMelody, which downloads the audio from TikTok, Reels or Shorts links and returns the title and artist in a few seconds. You can also upload a clip or record from your phone speaker.

4. Humming search as a last resort

If the clip is a cover or a live version, fingerprinting may miss it because the recording itself is different. Humming search in Google can still find the melody.


Once you have the name, save it to a playlist straight away. The sound page often disappears when the original video is deleted.