Apple buys music recognition app Shazam for $400 million

Apple has acquired Shazam, one of the most popular apps for recognising music, TV shows, films and adverts, in a deal allegedly worth $400 million (around £300 million).

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Apple has made an official statement following the deal, saying: "We are thrilled that Shazam and its talented team will be joining Apple."

"Apple Music and Shazam are a natural fit, sharing our 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."

Although the official sum is still undisclosed, it is thought to be far lower than than the $1 billion valuation the company received in 2015.

With Shazam onboard, Apple should have the ability 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. 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 apps.

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.

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