Google launches new feature that lets users hum, whistle or sing to search for songs

Those days of having a song stuck in your head and the track title on the tip of your tongue have finally been changed thanks to Google's new 'hum to search' feature.

'Hum to search' is accessible on mobiles via the Google app or Google Search widget. Users can press the mic icon and say "What's this song?" or tap the 'search a song' button, before being prompted to hum, whistle or sing a melody for 10-15 seconds.

Google said the feature uses "machine learning models transform the audio into a number-based sequence representing the song’s melody. Our models are trained to identify songs based on a variety of sources, including humans singing, whistling or humming, as well as studio recordings. The algorithms also take away all the other details, like accompanying instruments and the voice's timbre and tone. What we’re left with is the song’s number-based sequence, or the fingerprint."