How to Ask for a Track ID and Get an Answer

People answer faster when they can see you have done the obvious. Run Shazam or SoundHound on the cleanest part of the track, read the description and the comments under the mix, and look the set up on 1001Tracklists or MixesDB. For a SoundCloud set, look in MixTracklist's library at /explore, which is free to read, or paste the link at /scan to get a timestamped tracklist; YouTube and Mixcloud links are not supported.

If the tracklist shows "ID - ID" at your timestamp, the track is probably unreleased. What a track ID is explains that entry, and it changes what a good answer looks like: an artist name or "forthcoming on this label" may be all anyone can give you.

A helper should be able to click, hear the track, and reply. Include:

1. The link to the mix, pointing at the right moment if the platform allows it.
2. The exact timestamp, written out: "1:12:30", plus where the track ends if you know.
3. The genre and the DJ, so the right people stop scrolling.
4. What you already tried: "Shazam gives nothing, 1001Tracklists shows ID - ID".
5. A description of the hook: male or female vocal, any words you can make out, the lead sound, the mood. "Rolling bassline, pitched-down vocal saying 'hold me', big pad breakdown" is enough.

A title that names the timestamp, the DJ, the event and the genre, such as "Track ID at 1:12:30, melodic techno, from a 2026 festival set", does most of the work. "Song name??" does none.

The people most likely to know are already listening to that mix.

• SoundCloud. Comments are tied to a moment in the track. The SoundCloud Help article on comments says that on the web you click any free space in the area below the waveform to leave a comment at that exact timestamp, and that typing @ followed by a profile URL name notifies that user. In the app, the help page on comments on mobile says to tap the comment icon at the exact second you want; it also notes that links in comments are not clickable on mobile. Place the comment where the track is clearest and write "Track ID?" plus your description.
• YouTube. Write the time in the comment, for example "ID at 1:12:30?". YouTube Help's page on posting and interacting with comments says you can comment only if the video's owner has turned comments on, and that replies are threaded under the original comment. If you are asking somewhere else, use a link that starts at the right moment: YouTube Help's page on sharing videos describes the "Start at" box in the Share panel, where you enter the start time before copying the link.

Before you post, search the existing comments for your timestamp. If someone has already asked, reply to that thread and do not start a second one.

If the comments are silent, take the request to people who enjoy the hunt:

• Reddit. r/IdentifyThisTrack exists for this exact request, and r/tipofmytongue takes anything you cannot name, songs included. Each community posts its own rules. Read them before you post and follow them exactly, including any required title format and the way a post is marked as solved.
• Genre forums and groups. A drum and bass, trance or hard techno forum has far fewer members than Reddit and far more of the right ones.
• Tracklist sites. The 1001Tracklists FAQ says even guests can make suggestions on tracklist pages, so the set's own page there is a place to contribute what you learn.

Post in one community at a time, and give it a few days before trying the next.

A reply under the DJ's own post about the set, or one short direct message, is fine. Name the set and the timestamp, say what you liked, ask once.

Be ready for a no. DJ Mag's feature on the track ID debate shows DJs split between those who guard unreleased music and hard-won finds and those who, like Dr Dubplate of the ec2a label, try to free up IDs because tunes are there to be shared. If the track is unreleased, the name may not be the DJ's to give. A reply of "unreleased, out in spring" is still a useful answer.

1. Verify it. Play the suggested track's preview on Beatport, Bandcamp or a streaming service against your timestamp. Well-meant wrong answers happen.
2. Say thanks, and mark the post solved in whatever way the community's rules require.
3. Leave the answer where you asked. Reply to your own comment under the mix with the artist and title, so the next person with the same question finds it.
4. Buy or stream the track. The producer is the reason the hunt was worth it.

• Ask once per place. Do not repost the same request daily or paste it under every video.
• Never ask for the file, a rip, or a download link of unreleased music.
• Do not argue with a DJ who declines; withholding an ID is a long-standing part of DJ culture.
• Give back: answer someone else's request when you know the track.

Silence usually means the track is not out yet. Save the link and the timestamp, then work through how to find an unreleased track ID: follow the DJ and the likely label, watch the DJ's other sets, and look again after a few months. Leave your request up while you wait: we think a clear, timestamped question is worth more than ten vague ones, because it is still answerable on the day the record comes out.