It looks like the rumour about Apple’s interest in Shazam is spot on. The Cupertino company recently confirmed that it has acquired Shazam. Apple did not disclose the amount, but according to previous reports, it should be for around US$400 million – that’s about RM1.63 billion.
“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 Shazam upon approval of today’s agreement.” – Apple.
As expected, Apple did not provide any detail about what it would do with its new acquisition. The company already integrates Shazam in Siri, allowing users to easily ask Siri what song is playing at the moment. Apple could provide a deeper integration and say, maybe bring back the automatic song-tagging feature that could help you identify songs without you asking it to. Apple could also make use of Shazam’s AR technology.
The deal is pending regulatory approval, and should be closed in the coming weeks. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to Shazam after the acquisition, will it continue to support its Android app? Will it continue to recommending music on Spotify, Apple Music’s rival? Only time will tell.
(Source: The Verge)
