UPDATE: Cortana used to do a brilliant job of identifying songs on Windows 10. Unfortunately, when Microsoft shut down Groove Music, Cortana's music recognition feature was also retired.

We previously group-tested the best music identification apps for your convenience.

Shazam has joined Google and Xerox in the elite category of companies that are also used as verbs. If you listen to a catchy song playing on the radio or at the gym, but don't know what it is, you'll "shazam" it.

Google and Apple were quick to follow suit, and the mobile giants baked music identification into Google Now and Siri, respectively. On both Android and iOS, simply ask the personal assistant "What song is this?" to get the answer, with the option to purchase it from the respective app store.

Ways to Launch Cortana

Windows 10 Cortana Taskbar Settings

You can launch Cortana in several ways. Either press the Windows key or click the Windows Start button or the search icon and type "Cortana," or click the Cortana icon right next to the Windows Start button. If you can't see the Cortana or search icon, you might have to enable them via the Taskbar options; just right-click on the Taskbar to see them.

You can also launch Cortana without touching your mouse or keyboard, but you first need to enable the "Hey Cortana" voice recognition feature. To double-check whether it's enabled, open Cortana, click the three-dot button in the top left, then go to Settings > Voice activation. If the wake word isn't active, follow the link to the Windows Settings menu to enable the Let Cortana respond to "Cortana" keyword option.

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Identify Music Using Cortana

Note: This feature was retired.

Related: Identify a Song by Humming, Tapping on Keyboard, or Asking Others

Like its mobile cousins Google Now and Siri, Cortana also does a brilliant job of identifying songs playing near you. Obviously, you'll first need to ensure that you've connected a microphone to your PC (if it doesn't have a built-in one). After doing this, there are two ways to use the feature:

1. Ask Cortana

After launching, Cortana says "Ask me anything." Simply ask her any one of the following questions: What song is this?, What song is playing?, What's the name of this song?, or What's playing right now?.

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2. Use Cortana's Music Shortcut

Alternatively, you can launch Cortana, then click the musical note icon in the top right (similar to tapping the musical note icon that appears in Google Now). Apart from identifying songs, this icon also saves a list of your previous musical searches.

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After Identifying the Song

Once Cortana identifies the song, which usually takes about three to six seconds, you'll see its name, album, and artist. You can also click the Find another song link to do that. Click any of the results to open that album in the Windows Store.

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In the Windows Store, you'll see the option to purchase the song or the entire album. Alternatively, if you've never used Windows 10's Groove Music (which is similar to Spotify), you'll see the option to start a free 30-day trial. Microsoft's music service is $9.99 (£8.99) per month thereafter.

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If Cortana can't identify your song, you'll see a message saying "I'm sorry, I don't recognize this song", with the option to Try again. In most cases, increasing the music volume or moving your PC closer to the source of the sound remedies the problem and gets Cortana to identify it.

Find Artists Using Cortana

If Cortana doesn't understand your voice command, it'll open the Microsoft Edge browser and run your search query in Bing. While trying out some voice commands for this article, we stumbled upon an easy way to find song artists using Cortana.

Open Cortana and say Who sang "Kiss from a rose?" You'll instantly see Bing's search result of all the artists who sang that song as a carousel (in decreasing order of popularity).

If you use Bing as your search engine and are based in the US, then you should check out Bing Rewards to earn gift cards and subscriptions.

When Cortana's Music Identification Doesn't Work

The primary reason for Cortana failing to identify a song is because your PC isn't picking up the audio properly. If you're using Cortana on a Windows 10 laptop with a built-in microphone, then you'll need to ensure your laptop is facing the direction of the sound.

For example, Cortana didn't recognize any songs, when the laptop lid was facing the TV (source of the sound). However, when we turned the laptop around, so that the screen was facing the TV, results were much better.

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Music identification wasn't as much of an issue when we used a headset with a microphone. The reason for this is likely because the (built-in) laptop microphones are usually located above your screen (beside your camera), whereas most headset microphones can pick up sound from anywhere around you.

While you can always install the free Windows 10 Shazam app, we recommend you save valuable storage space and use Cortana -- unless music identification is a feature you tend to use very often. While Window 10's personal assistant doesn't identify music as fast as Shazam, it gives you the info you're looking for accurately. You can then easily search for and add the track to the playlist of your preferred music streaming service.

If you're using an older version of Windows and are still contemplating whether to upgrade to Windows 10, we can help you make up your mind. If you've updated to Windows 10, then make sure you've checked these default settings.

What's Your Favorite Music Identification App/Service?

Cortana performed flawlessly when we asked her to identify current and yesteryear English tracks. We tried a mixture of chart hits, rare tracks by popular artists, and even unknown tracks from lesser-known artists. That said, its music identification catalog is limited to what's on the Microsoft Groove database. Being a (comparatively) new service, this doesn't have as many songs as Shazam or Spotify.