Apple has finally announced its acquisition of music recognition app, Shazam. The tech giant is shelling out a rather significant $400 million for the takeover. Interestingly, this acquisition has huge implications for Shazam users, who will be able to enjoy the application minus the advertisements.
Shazam, in case you haven’t used it, is an application which can quickly recognize any song which is playing around you, simply by listening to it. The app has been a pretty hot piece of property over the past couple of years with companies like Snap, Pandora, and Apple in the race. Thanks at least in part to it’s deeper pockets, Apple has come out on the top.
While we were aware of rumors of Apple’s interest in Shazam were, the matter came to the fore 3-weeks ago when the matter went before the European Union, which took a call on whether or not the tech giant was commiting an anti-trust violation through the acquisition. As per the EU,
Any concerns in that respect were dismissed because Shazam’s data is not unique and Apple’s competitors would still have the opportunity to access and use similar databases.
The app currently has several hundred millions, and has been downloaded over 1 Billion times.
Speaking on the topic, Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music said:
Apple and Shazam have a long history together. Shazam was one of the first apps available when we launched the App Store and has become a favorite app for music fans everywhere. With a shared love of music and innovation, we are thrilled to bring our teams together to provide users even more great ways to discover, experience and enjoy music.
Shazam made somewhere around $54 million in fiscal 2016. Advertisements are one of the primary revenue sources for the company, however, once you are part of the most valuable company in the world, money probably loses its original appeal.
Jokes apart though, Apple’s plans with the app are not clear at the moment. Would it integrate Shazam within Apple Music, or would it let it continue independently? If I had to take a guess, Apple removing ads could point to an integration, with Apple Music perhaps, in the coming future. However, we will have to await an official announcement to be certain.
