Apple Confirms Acquisition of Shazam

Yesterday we reported that Apple is close to buying the music recognition app Shazam for about $400m according to media reports.

Shazam-which identifies songs, movies, and TV shows from an audio clip-is already closely integrated with Apple’s Siri, allowing iPhone users to identify songs by saying “Hey Siri, what’s that song.”

Shazam has more than 100 million monthly users and makes most of its revenue from commissions paid on referrals to Apple’s iTunes Store.

This acquisition has now been confirmed by Apple and Shazam in separate statements. Apple said: “Since the launch of the App Store, Shazam has consistently ranked as one of the most popular apps for iOS. Today, it’s used by hundreds of millions of people around the world, across multiple platforms. Apple Music and Shazam are a natural fit, sharing a passion for music discovery and delivering great music experiences to our users.

“We have exciting plans in store, and we look forward to combining with Shazam upon approval of today’s agreement.”

On this, Shazam also released a statement saying: “We are excited to announce that Shazam has entered into an agreement to become part of Apple. Shazam is one of the highest rated apps in the world and loved by hundreds of millions of users and we can’t imagine a better home for Shazam to enable us to continue innovating and delivering magic for our users.”

By acquiring Shazam, Apple would basically cut out the middleman and save money on commissions. The deal would also help the Apple Music service gain ground on Spotify, by making it easier for users to find songs and add them to playlists.