Apple acquires Shazam for $400 million

Apple announced today that it has acquired song recognition company Shazam. According to Recode, the deal is worth $400 million.

In a statement to The Verge, an Apple spokesperson said,

“We are thrilled that Shazam and its talented team will be joining Apple. 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."

Speaking to the same publication, a Shazam spokesperson said,

“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.”

Neither companies confirmed any plans for the future in their announcements.

Shazam currently has apps for iOS, Android and macOS, with the Windows apps being pulled earlier this year. It is one of the most highly rated and popular apps in the world on every platform. Even before the acquisition, Shazam has been part of Apple software, powering the song recognition feature in Siri. With the acquisition, Apple could build deeper integration within its software, although it remains to be seen what they could be.

One can also wonder what happens to the mobile apps, especially those on Android. Apple might not have much use for the mobile apps, especially since they didn't make a lot of money, and could only be in it for the technology.

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