How to Find Trending Songs for YouTube Shorts

Finding the right song for your YouTube Short can mean the difference between 100 views and 100,000. It’s the invisible force that hooks a viewer, makes them watch again, and pushes the algorithm to share your content with a massive new audience. This guide breaks down exactly where to find trending sounds, how to spot them early, and most importantly, how to use them the right way to grow your channel.

Why Bother with Trending Songs? (Hint: It’s a Growth Hack)

Jumping on a trending sound isn’t just about making your video more entertaining, it's a strategic move that taps directly into how the YouTube Shorts algorithm works. When a song starts trending, YouTube actively looks for more videos using that audio to show to people who have already engaged with it. Think of it like a dedicated fast-lane for your content.

Here’s the breakdown:

• Increased Visibility: Your Short gets categorized and grouped with other videos using the same sound, exposing you to viewers who might have never found your channel otherwise.
• Built-in Engagement: Viewers already recognize and like the sound, which makes them more likely to watch your video to the end. They understand the context of the audio, and they’re curious to see your take on it.
• Viral Potential: A song isn’t just music, it’s often a meme format. It can be a punchline, a POV setup, or a dance challenge. By participating in the trend, you’re joining a massive, platform-wide conversation, which is the fastest way to get noticed.

By using trending audio correctly, you’re telling the algorithm: "Hey, this content is relevant *right now*. Show it to people!"

Where to Dig for Gold: Your Go-To Sources for Trending Audio

The best sounds aren't always conveniently labeled "trending." Sometimes you have to do a little digging. Your goal is to find songs that are on the rise, not the ones that have already peaked. Here are the most reliable places to hunt for your next viral sound.

1. Inside the YouTube App Itself

YouTube gives you the tools right inside the Shorts camera. While it’s not always the best way to find a sound *before* it explodes, it's a perfect place to confirm what's currently popular.

How to Find Sounds on YouTube:

1. Tap the (+) icon at the bottom of the YouTube app and select "Create a Short."
2. At the top of the screen, tap "Add sound."
3. This opens the YouTube Audio Library. The main page, "Featured," is where you'll find YouTube's top recommendations.

Inside the Audio Library, pay close attention to the "Top sounds" playlist. This is a real-time chart of what's performing best across the entire platform. While these are often already mega-popular, you might spot a sound climbing fast that still has room to grow.

Pro Tip: When you're scrolling through your Shorts feed, see a video with music you like? Tap the sound name in the bottom right corner. This takes you to the audio page, where you can see how many Shorts have been made with that sound. If you see an upward-facing arrow next to the count, YouTube is officially flagging it as trending.

2. The TikTok Creative Center (and Your "For You" Page)

Let's be honest: many of the biggest sound trends on YouTube Shorts start on TikTok. If you really want to be ahead of the curve, you have to be paying attention to what’s happening there. You can do this in two ways: casually or analytically.

Casually: Scroll Your "For You" Page

Your "For You" Page (FYP) is a living, breathing trend report. As you scroll, start paying attention to the audio.

• Does a sound keep popping up from different creators in different contexts? That’s an early sign of a trend.
• Listen for soundbites from movies, catchy song remixes, or relatable POV audios.
• Save any sounds you hear 3-4 times in a single scrolling session. Don’t overthink it, just save them to a collection. Then, cross-reference them on YouTube to see if they’ve made the jump yet. If they haven’t, you could be one of the first creators in your niche to use it there.

Analytically: Use the TikTok Creative Center

This is the data-driven method for marketers and serious creators. The TikTok Creative Center has a feature that shows you exactly which songs are trending in real-time. It's free to use.

1. Go to the TikTok Creative Center (you can just Google it).
2. Click on the "Trend Discovery" tab and select "Songs."
3. You'll see a chart of the top trending songs. You can filter these by your region and by different time frames (e.g., last 7 days vs. last 30 days).

Don't just look at what's at #1. Look for the songs labeled "Breakout." These are songs that are climbing the charts rapidly, which means they are likely in the sweet spot for a trend - popular enough to get noticed but not so saturated that everyone is tired of them yet.

3. Spotify’s Viral Charts and Playlists

Spotify is a powerful leading indicator of what music is about to become a cultural moment. People find catchy songs on playlists, and those songs often become the backbone of new social media trends. The most useful resource for this is Spotify's "Viral 50" chart.

Search for the "Viral 50" playlist on Spotify. You can find a global chart or one specific to your country. This playlist isn’t just about what’s being streamed the most, its algorithm tracks songs that are getting a disproportionate amount of social media shares. In other words, it’s a list of songs people are finding, loving, and instantly sharing - the perfect recipe for a YouTube Shorts trend.

4. Watch What Creators in Your Niche Are Using

A huge trend in the comedy world might be completely irrelevant to a finance channel. The most impactful trends are often the ones that are deeply rooted in a specific community or niche. One of the best ways to find these is to stop scrolling casually and start analyzing actively.

• Identify your "bellwether" creators: Find 5-10 larger creators in your specific niche who are consistently doing well with Shorts. They often have the resources or teams to stay on top of trends.
• Monitor their audio choices: Pay attention to the sounds they use. When they use a sound you haven't heard, tap on it. See how many other Shorts have been made with it. Is it just a few hundred? You might be early. Is it tens of thousands? The trend is probably cresting.
• Study their adaptation: Notice *how* they link the audio to a topic in your niche. This will give you ideas for your own content.

It's Not Just What You Use, It's *How* You Use It

Finding the song is only half the battle. Just slapping a popular song onto a random video of yours is a waste of a good trend. You have to participate in the format *and* make it your own.

Understand the Context of the Trend

Before you even think about filming, watch at least 10-15 Shorts that are successfully using the trend. What’s the common theme? Is it a lip-sync where the creator plays out a funny scenario? Is it a before-and-after reveal that happens at the beat drop? Is it a "point to the text" format where you give tips or list facts? If you use the audio without understanding the underlying format, your video will feel disconnected and out of place, and viewers will scroll right by.

Adapt the Trend to Your Niche

This is where creators separate themselves. Don't just copy the trend, view it as a creative prompt that you need to answer from the perspective of your channel's topic.

Example: Let's say a trend is making the rounds where a person lipsyncs the line "I don't have this in me," and then it cuts to them doing something perfectly.

• A baking channel could show a failed cake, then after the cut, a perfectly decorated one.
• A woodworking channel could show a jumbled pile of wood scrap, then after the cut, a beautiful, finished piece of furniture.
• A marketing channel could show a blank whiteboard, then after the cut, a fully mapped-out campaign strategy.

The audience recognizes the trend format but gets value and entertainment specific to the niche they care about.

Don't Wait Too Long

Trends on short-form video move incredibly fast. What’s viral today could feel dated a week from now. You have to find a balance between spotting the trend early and jumping on it before it's overused. The ideal window is when a trend is clearly growing but before the biggest creators in every niche have already made their version. If you’re seeing it everywhere, you might be a little late - but you can still give it a shot.

Quick Note: Staying on YouTube's Good Side (Copyright)

Copyright on YouTube is a serious topic, but Shorts makes using popular music fairly straightforward and safe if you follow one simple rule:

Always use music from within the YouTube Shorts creator.

When you select a sound using the "Add sound" button in the Shorts camera, YouTube automatically applies the appropriate license for you. This means the record labels have agreed to let creators use these clips in their Shorts. It protects you from copyright strikes and ensures your video can remain monetized (if you’re in the YouTube Partner Program).

Where people get into trouble is when they edit their video in a third-party app like CapCut or Premiere Pro, add a popular song they downloaded, and then upload the finished video file to Shorts. YouTube’s Content ID system will almost certainly flag this, which can result in your video being muted, blocked, or receiving a copyright claim.

Final Thoughts

Finding success with trending songs is a skill. It's about combining regular research across platforms like TikTok and Spotify with active analysis of what’s succeeding in your niche, then moving quickly to create a unique take. Nail that process, and you’ll unlock one of the most powerful, algorithm-friendly growth tools available on YouTube today.

Once you’ve found your perfect audio and created a great Short, consistency is the next piece of the puzzle. As creators ourselves, we built Postbase because we were tired of tools that treat video like an afterthought. You can visually plan your entire Shorts calendar, schedule your content reliably across all your social channels at once, and manage all your engagement in one streamlined inbox. That leaves you more time to focus on what actually grows your channel: creating great content and finding the next big trend.