Do you ever hear a really great song somewhere, and frantically try to find out what it was? It happens to me all the time. It’s aggravating.

Cingular has come up with something iTunes needs desperately: Song recognition and identification software.

Cingular Wireless has taken the guesswork out of identifying a recorded song with its enhanced music recognition service, MusicID. Available in two formats — Text Messaging and JAVA Application — MusicID uses Cingular’s digital voice network to listen to and identify a recorded song from the radio, television, CD or some other external source. Cingular is the first carrier in North America to launch music recognition in both a text message option and advanced (JAVA) download application.

“One of the key value propositions for the mobile music space focuses on helping people stay better connected to their music as they move through their day,” said Jim Ryan, vice president of consumer data services, Cingular Wireless. “MusicID does this because it enables anyone who has ever heard a great song playing but didn’t know the name of the song or artist, to find out then and there.”

Cingular’s MusicID service searches against a database containing more than three million recorded songs and then ID’s the song. All it takes is a capable handset, some recorded music, and a couple of punches on the phone’s keypad to ID the song while it’s playing. Within a few seconds, the user will receive the track title and artist name on the phone’s screen. Moreover, once a song or artist is matched, users will have the opportunity to purchase the ringtone of the song.