Apple buys music recognition app Shazam

Apple's purchase of Shazam is complete. The Cupertino firm now officially owns one of the most popular apps for recognising music, TV shows, films and adverts.

Although it hasn't revealed the actual fee paid, Apple allegedly paid $400 million (around £300 million).

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An official statement reveals the Shazam team will work closely with Apple's own Music offering: "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 favourite app for music fans everywhere," said Oliver Schusser, Apple's vice president of Apple Music.

"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."

With Shazam onboard, Apple will have the option to give the iPhone and iPad a similar music recognition feature as the Google Pixel 2, which constantly listens out for music around you and presents results on the home screen without you having to dive into any apps.

Currently, you can tell Shazam which music streaming service you use and get direct access to it through the app. When you Shazam a music track it automatically gets added to your library, if available. Some fear, however, that Apple's acquisition could lead to the company exclusively connecting the service to Apple Music.

It will also be interesting to see if the app will only be made available to iOS devices, forcing Android users to look elsewhere for song identifying alternatives.

The deal should definitely mean Apple will save money on commissions it has to pay out. Previously, if someone bought a song from iTunes after Shazaming it, Apple had to give Shazam a cut of the takings.