How to find the tracklist of any DJ set

The short answer: start where tracklists are already published: the description, the chapters and the comments of the upload. Then search the tracklist databases 1001Tracklists and MixesDB. If tracks are still missing, a tool that listens to the whole recording can fill the gaps, except for unreleased music, which only the DJ or the label can name.

1. Look where the uploader and fans already wrote it down

The fastest answer is often already on the page where you found the set. Before you search anywhere else, check these four places:

• The description. Many channels and radio shows post the full tracklist with the upload. Open the full description; the list is often below the links.
• The chapters. Some uploads split the video into a chapter per track. Hover over the progress bar and the track names appear.
• The comments. Sort by top comments. Fans regularly post the complete list with timestamps, and replies to “ID at 47:12?” often answer single tracks.
• The DJ's and the event's own pages. A post about the set, the radio show's episode page or the SoundCloud version of the same recording sometimes carries the list that the YouTube upload does not.

What this cannot do: published lists are written by people. They can be incomplete, out of order, belong to a different version of the set, or miss the timestamps you need to find a track again.

2. Search a tracklist database

Two databases collect tracklists across thousands of sets. Search for “DJ name, event or show, year”, for example “Ben Sims SECTION 2026 tracklist”.

• 1001Tracklists is built by its community and is strongest for well-known DJs, festivals and radio shows. Tracks are identified and added by users, so a small, new or YouTube-only set can take a while to appear, or never does.
• MixesDB is a wiki of DJ mixes with detailed tracklists, and is especially good for radio shows, podcasts and older mixes.

What this cannot do: both depend on volunteers. Coverage follows what those people listen to, and a listed set can still have gaps marked as ID.

3. Use a recognition app while you listen

Shazam and similar apps name a track from a few seconds of audio. For a single track playing right now, nothing is quicker. In a DJ set, they fail more often than people expect, for reasons that have nothing to do with the app:

• during a mix, two tracks play at once, and the app hears neither clearly;
• the DJ changes tempo and pitch, and EQ and effects change the sound;
• live recordings add crowd noise and room echo;
• much of what is played in techno and house is unreleased, a promo or the DJ's own edit, and no database knows it.

Tip: try in the middle of a track, away from the transitions, and try more than once.
What this cannot do: it finds one track at a time, gives you no timestamps, and has nothing for unreleased music.

4. Scan the whole recording

A scanning tool does what you would do with a recognition app, but across the whole set and without you holding up a phone. Traklyst first reads the published lists from step 1 and MixesDB, then listens to short fragments from the start of the recording to the end, and marks every track as confirmed by the audio or taken from a published list. How Traklyst works explains each step.

What this cannot do: a scan runs into the same wall as a recognition app. Released music is found; unreleased tracks, dubplates and edits stay ID. A long set also takes longer to scan.