On Monday 24th September, Apple announced that it has finally completed the acquisition of Shazam, an application that helps users identify songs, TV shows, commercials and movies. The takeover of one of the highest rating music apps by the technology giant is said to be valued at 400 million US dollars.
“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,” commented the vice president of Apple Music, Oliver Schusser.
The application has already been downloaded more than 1 billion times, and remains one of the most popular places to interact with peers by discovering and sharing favorite songs, videos and artists. While it is still unclear if Shazam will be incorporated into the Apple eco-system, the tech giant has confirmed that soon the application will become add-free for all its users.
The acquisition has faced a slight delay due to an investigation by the European Commission this April into whether Shazam held information on Apple’s competitors. However, the deal was cleared earlier this month, since it proved to be no threat to competition in the marketplace.
