Appetizers: SoundHound

NAME SoundHound

WHAT This music-recognition app is a great addition to your device. Just play music, and within seconds you'll know the song's title and who is singing it.

HOW MUCH Free

COMPATIBLE WITH iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android

WHAT'S GOOD While there are other free apps, such as Shazam, that can "listen" and identify music and display album art, what puts SoundHound ahead of the pack is its additional features. When it identifies a song, it displays and scrolls its lyrics in sync with the music. It also has links to find tour dates and tickets, and album appearances by the artist. You can search SoundHound by typing in a title or just speaking its name. And if a song isn't currently playing and you don't know its name, but its lyrics or music are stuck in your head, SoundHound will take a crack at identifying it if you sing or hum into your device. With either SoundHound or Shazam, you can also link to a full streaming version of the song on Rdio with just a touch. (Although there is a free trial period, Rdio is a pay service and requires a download of its app.)

WHAT'S NOT Though SoundHound is excellent at recognizing most music, we found that Shazam was the clear winner when it came to iTunes music from TV series such as "Smash" or "The Voice." SoundHound recognized some songs from these shows, while Shazam was successful identifying almost all of them.

BOTTOM LINE If you can't name that tune, SoundHound will do it for you.