It’s official. As reported last week, Apple today confirmed that it is acquiring music recognition service Shazam for an undisclosed sum.
Shazam’s music recognition technology is already integrated into Siri’s feature set. The standalone app is also readily available on various platforms. The app saw it’s billionth download in September.
Its features are also available through Snapchat, and there’s integration with leading music service Spotify, as well.
Established in 1999, Shazam started as a SMS service where you dialled “2580” to recognise a song. How far it has come. The leading service however has yet to turn a profit since its inception.
While it was valued at USD1 billion back in 2015, it is rumoured that the Apple acquisition is worth USD400 million.
“We are thrilled that Shazam and its talented team will be joining Apple. Since the launch of the App Store, Shazam has consistently ranked as one of the most popular apps for iOS,” Apple said in a statement.
“Apple Music and Shazam are a natural fit, sharing a passion for music discovery and delivering great music experiences to our users.”
It seems Shazam isn’t just about media identification, it also has some AR wizardry up its sleeves. So, it’s a nice little sugar-coated package for Apple.
The financial and legalities of the deal should be completed in the coming weeks.
What do you think of the deal?
