Apple Acquires Shazam

– Is Shazam On Your Phone?

The music-discovery Shazam has been purchased by tech giant Apple. The terms of the deal were not available at publication time. 

The deal was hinted at and later confirmed by TechCrunch. The move comes with Apple being one of the leaders in music streaming with its Apple Music service. 

While the companies did not reveal financial details of the deal, Recode estimated the deal as being worth $400 million, citing unnamed sources. 

With the acquisition, Apple gains access to Shazam’s users and its data on their behavior. While the company has not yet been profitable, it has been closing the gap on its losses according to TechCrunch.

Besides the main Shazam service of identifying music heard on the radio or through other platforms, Shazam also provides the Artists on Shazam service –which lets you know what popular artists are “Shazaming” – Shazam Charts, and Shazam For Brands, which allows you to interact with branded physical products from partners like Coca Cola and Maltesers in various ways.

Fellow tech giant Google is reportedly stepping into the subscription streaming arena with a YouTube “Remix” service rumored to begin in March, as YouTube still remains one of the most popular destinations on the internet for music.