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Find similar

Let users discover tracks that sound like something they already have. Our API utilizes EAR (Epidemic Audio Reference) to instantly find music that sounds similar to any part of another track.

There are three ways to find similar music, depending on what you're starting from:

Find similar tracks by track ID​

Use the similar tracks endpoint to find whole tracks that share similar characteristics with a reference track. Provide an Epidemic Sound track ID, and the endpoint returns a list of similar tracks based on musical characteristics.

Epidemic Sound track IDs only

The trackId parameter accepts Epidemic Sound Partner API track IDs only — not Spotify or other external IDs. To find music based on a Spotify reference, see Search by Reference.

This is useful when users want to:

  • Replace a track that doesn't fit perfectly
  • Discover multiple alternatives to a track they like
  • Explore tracks with similar genre, mood, tempo, and overall feel

Find similar sections by track ID​

While the endpoint above returns whole similar tracks, the similar sections endpoint works at the segment level. Given an Epidemic Sound track ID and a time range (start/end timestamps in milliseconds), it returns matching segments within other tracks — each with their own timestamps.

This is useful when you want to match a specific part of a track rather than the track as a whole. For example, if a user likes the chorus of a track, you can find similar-sounding sections in other tracks.

Find similar by uploaded audio​

Use the similar audio sections endpoint to find track segments that match a provided audio file. Like the section-based search above, this returns matching segments with timestamps — but instead of referencing an existing Epidemic Sound track, you provide your own audio clip.

This is useful when you have reference audio from another provider and want to find similar-sounding sections in the Epidemic Sound library.

The endpoint:

  • Takes an uploaded audio file reference (audioUploadId)
  • Accepts start and end timestamps (in milliseconds) to define the section you want to match
  • Returns track sections from the Epidemic Sound library that sound similar to your audio reference

Implementation steps​

  1. Upload an audio file
  2. Get recommendations based on audioUploadId
  3. Check if the file is already uploaded

1. Upload an audio file​

Post an audio file to the audio upload endpoint. That will give you an audioUploadId in return that you will use in the next step to get the actual track recommendations.

We currently support the formats: mp3, mpeg, ogg and vorbis. Maximum file size is 3.5MB.

Partner Token Required

The audio upload endpoint requires Partner Token authentication. End users are not currently allowed to use this feature directly. Once uploaded, the /v0/tracks/similar-sections endpoint can be called with a User Token or Connect (OAuth) token.

2. Get recommendations based on audioUploadId​

Use the audioUploadId from the previous step to get track recommendations by using the matching audio endpoint. This will give you a list of tracks to show to your user.

3. Check if the file is already uploaded​

To avoid duplicate uploads we provide an additional endpoint to get the audioUploadId of an already uploaded asset. Use the checksum endpoint to get the audioUploadId based on the checksum of the uploaded file.