Apple Completes Shazam Acquisition, App Will Soon Become Ad-Free

[MacRumors]

Apple today announced it has completed its acquisition of music recognition service Shazam, after reaching a preliminary agreement in December. Apple says the Shazam app will soon become ad-free for all users.

Oliver Schusser, Vice President of Apple Music:

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.

Shazam is a popular service that can identify the names and lyrics of songs, music videos, TV shows, and more, simply by listening to and deciphering whatever is playing. Shazam has apps across iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, iMessage, and Mac, and has been built into Siri since iOS 8.

Apple announced its plans to acquire Shazam in a statement provided to MacRumors and other media outlets back in December:

We are thrilled that Shazam and its talented team will be joining Apple. Since the launch of the App Store, Shazam has consistently ranked as one of the most popular apps for iOS. Today, it's used by hundreds of millions of people around the world, across multiple platforms. 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 with Shazam upon approval of today's agreement.

Shazam issued the following statement at that time:

We are excited to announce that Shazam has entered into an agreement to become part of Apple. Shazam is one of the highest rated apps in the world and loved by hundreds of millions of users and we can't imagine a better home for Shazam to enable us to continue innovating and delivering magic for our users.

Apple completed its acquisition of Shazam just a few weeks after European regulators approved of the merger. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but a report from TechCrunch's Ingrid Lunden valued it around $400 million.

Shazam's app was optimized for iOS 12 on Friday.

Article Link: Apple Completes Shazam Acquisition, App Will Soon Become Ad-Free

 

[SkippyThorson]

Very nice! Will be interesting to see how this shakes out in terms of integration.

All I can say, please don't bake it in to Siri, and don't remove its integration with Spotify! *

* at least I tried

 

[Paesano]

Does this mean we won't need two apps anymore? (Apple Music and Shazam)

 

[kevinbeared]

Hope they will revamp it, UI is ****** now, it's a pain to go left i have to click a hundred time before it understand, and to go through shazam you go down and see "see more" and it puts you back at the top... so annoying

 

[Pearple]

Resistance is futile. You will disarm your weapons, and escort us to Sector 001. If you attempt to intervene, we will destroy you

 

[Niklas_nick]

Hope they keep the Spotify integration.

 

[Old geek 959]

I remember Sony Ericsson was the first to introduce this service in their mobile phones specially their Walkman series back on 2005. It was called TrackID

 

[Pearple]

Hope they keep the Spotify integration.

They will atomize this first. Sorry. But You can always cancel Spotify and join Apple Music.

That’s the whole point of buying Shazam

 

[Will.O.Bie]

Resistance is futile. You will disarm your weapons, and escort us to Sector 001. If you attempt to intervene, we will destroy you

You must assimilate

 

[jimthing]

They will atomize this first. Sorry. But You can always cancel Spotify and join Apple Music.

That’s the whole point of buying Shazam

You don't BUY Shazam. And anyway, wasn't there a report of them keeping most functionality in the separate app, along with the Spotify integration?

 

[Mac 128]

So does this mean support for Android will be dropped? Seems strange that Apple would support software that sends customers to a competing service to listen to, and buy music.

 

[outskirtsofinfinity]

I thought this happened months ago. I deleted the Shazam app, but Siri still answers my "Hey, Siri, what's playing?". I thought that was because Shazam was acquired and running under the hood. I guess this news will only mean that Siri will become even more skilled at answering that question! Love it.

 

[macduke]

How do I know I have become old? I don't use Shazam any more. Why do I think that means I've become old? Because I don't really care about new music and finding out more about it. Add that to the list of things that change in your 30s. I'll likely listen to the same garbage the rest of my life now, except for maybe newer electronic music on the Monstercat podcast which I listen to when I need to zone out while programming or whatever.

 

[Dwalls90]

Not going to cry over 2.99, but I would like a refund as I just purchased an advertisement-free subscription within the last 30 days.

 

[Nozuka]

I thought this happened months ago. I deleted the Shazam app, but Siri still answers my "Hey, Siri, what's playing?". I thought that was because Shazam was acquired and running under the hood. I guess this news will only mean that Siri will become even more skilled at answering that question! Love it.

Shazam has been baked into Siri since ios8. The App was never needed for that.

But i always use the App anyway.

 

[saxofunk]

One wonders whether this has broader implications than music...
They may have identified some IP that could improve other services than just identifying music tracks and needed to purchase Shazam in order to obtain that IP.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Resistance is futile. You will disarm your weapons, and escort us to Sector 001. If you attempt to intervene, we will destroy you

For $400M they can assimilate me, my family, my descendants, and even my friends.

 

[joueboy]

After almost 1 year since acquisition that made Apple a couple millions as a discount to what they paid to Shazam. I actually just opened the app yesterday when I was re-arranging my apps but I haven't used it for awhile and I'm surprised it's showing an upgrade option.

 

[Ebok]

They will atomize this first. Sorry. But You can always cancel Spotify and join Apple Music.

That’s the whole point of buying Shazam

not that simple especially considering apple doesn't let ppl use their own credit cards when on family sharing. just because i add someone to my apple music plan doesn't mean i want to control all their purchases.. idiots @ apple.

 

[JimmyBanks6]

Not going to cry over 2.99, but I would like a refund as I just purchased an advertisement-free subscription within the last 30 days.

Apple buying Shazam was announced months and months ago. That was your own fault.

 

[Octavius8]

Hope they keep the Spotify integration.

Exactly!!!!. I really don't like Apple Music, but I'd Apple kills Spotify integration I will only hate AM...

 

[asiga]

Nothing is free. If the ads get removed, that’s because you are the product (which is true in iOS and Android).

 

[sundog925]

Does anyone really use the app anymore when it’s built into Siri ?! LOL.

 

[redneckitengineer]

So can I get a refund of my premium payment for the ad-free experience?

 

[Spock]

Nothing is free. If the ads get removed, that’s because you are the product (which is true in iOS and Android).

Not so much with iOS then Android, Apple is removing the ads because if you Shazam a song and then go buy it from iTunes or join Apple Music to stream the album they have made money without an intrusive ad.