Apple's Shazam Acquisition Set to Gain European Approval

[MacRumors]

European Commission antitrust regulators are set to approve Apple's acquisition of music discovery service Shazam with no conditions, reports Reuters.

Apple announced its planned acquisition of Shazam in December, but the deal has yet to be completed due to an ongoing EU investigation.

Regulators were worried that the merger between the two companies would provide Apple with a wealth of data that could allow it to target its competitors' customers, ultimately resulting in fewer music streaming options for European citizens.

There were also concerns that Apple would disallow Shazam from referring EU customers to Shazam's rivals, such as Spotify. At the current time, Shazam can be connected to either Apple Music or Spotify, allowing Shazamed songs to be opened in either service.

While European Commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso declined to comment at this time, a final decision on the acquisition is expected on September 18. Once approved, Apple will be able to finalize the deal and complete the Shazam purchase.

Shazam, for those unfamiliar with the service, is a cross-platform app designed to identify music, TV shows, and more. It has been baked into Apple devices as part of Siri for several years now, and it's what powers Siri's ability to answer questions like "What song is this?" Shazam also offers apps for iOS devices, Android devices, Macs, and PCs.

When announcing the acquisition of Shazam, Apple said that it had "exciting plans in store," but declined to provide further information on how the Shazam service would be used.

Article Link: Apple's Shazam Acquisition Set to Gain European Approval

 

[ashfps]

Still no idea why Apple didn't grab SoundHound instead, much better app, and recognizes more things than Shazam ever did for me.

 

[EvilEvil]

Yet another company Apple buys that won't actually be used to improve their software.

 

[Nueve]

I forgot about this lol , they're looking to integrate in Apple music I am guessing?

 

[ashfps]

I forgot about this lol , they're looking to integrate in Apple music I am guessing?

It literally says in the picture "Listen to the full song on Apple Music, Get 3 months free"

 

[iSayuSay]

It will be very useful in Apple Music environments. iOS will be able to "always listen" and recognize your songs for you, add to my Apple Music playlist or library. Not sure about Shazam app though since it belongs to Apple, will it still work with Spotify? I hope so, competition is good for consumers.

 

[iapplelove]

Still no idea why Apple didn't grab SoundHound instead, much better app, and recognizes more things than Shazam ever did for me.

Was just gonna say, when I’m in doubt of a song title my first choice is always my soundhog app.

 

[mikethemartian]

It would be humorous if Apple captures the copyright for the word Shazam and makes DC/WB license it from them.

 

[lunarworks]

If this leads to a dedicated Shazam button in the Control Center I will be very happy.

 

[one more]

If this leads to a dedicated Shazam button in the Control Center I will be very happy.

No need to wait, there is already a Shazam widget.

 

[lunarworks]

No need to wait, there is already a Shazam widget.

I know that, but it could be faster if it were closer integrated with the OS.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Yet another company Apple buys that won't actually be used to improve their software.

You mean like how they acquired the Workflow app and have now turned it into the Shortcuts app, a key part of allowing people to leverage much more powerful commands and workflows with Siri in iOS 12?

 

[MacFan23]

Yet another company Apple buys that won't actually be used to improve their software.

Just going through the last 5/6 years of Apple acquisitions, it looks like they do tend to actually use them to improve their software.

InVisage Technologies - Face ID
Faceshift - Face ID
PrimeSense - Face ID
Perceptio - Face ID/Photos
init.ai - Business Chat
Workflow - Shortcuts
Gliimpse - Health tracking/ResearchKit
VocalIQ - Siri
Mapsense - Maps
Coherent Navigation - Maps
Embark - Maps
LinX - Camera
Beats Electronics - Apple Music
Swell - Apple Music
Chomp - App Store
AuthenTec - Touch ID
LearnSprout - Apple education apps

Not including the AI, Security, ML and AR acquisitions.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

If this leads to a dedicated Shazam button in the Control Center I will be very happy.

You can simply ask Siri who is playing also. That's most likely where we'll see the integration. I doubt we'll see a dedicated button for it.

 

[Morgenland]

I think it is very likely that the Commission will let Shazam. It's correct that she's dealing with it, because for Apple it's an important course setting for a successful business, and means simplified music navigation for the rest of us.

Shazam has good qualities to output songs correctly in the dialects of many countries of the world. That's probably why Apple got involved with Shazam.

The correct recognition and text is still a huge problem for many apps in a worldwide context, e.g. also for navigation maps.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

It will be very useful in Apple Music environments. iOS will be able to "always listen" and recognize your songs for you, add to my Apple Music playlist or library. Not sure about Shazam app though since it belongs to Apple, will it still work with Spotify? I hope so, competition is good for consumers.

I've already setup my Apple Music to pull any song I tag in Shazam and add it to a playlist within Apple Music. Works well. Nice to have the full version of all songs, then I can simply move them to other playlists.

With Apple buying Shazam, it's likely it'll be even easier to get the full version of any song you identify.

I highly doubt it'll still work with Spotify. Apple wants people to use its own service, not others. There's no benefit to helping their competition by keeping Spotify as an option.

 

[lunarworks]

You can simply ask Siri who is playing also. That's most likely where we'll see the integration. I doubt we'll see a dedicated button for it.

Asking Siri just adds a few seconds to the process when seconds actually count. It's frustrating having Shazam kick-in just as a song ends.

 

[alpi123]

Still no idea why Apple didn't grab SoundHound instead, much better app, and recognizes more things than Shazam ever did for me.

Just downloaded and tried it - it's very slow compared to Shazam. Plus, for the songs I tried, I didn't see the album artworks - just the singer and the song name. Maybe I have to give it some time but I don't plan on replacing Shazam.

Can SoundHound record the music while offline and search for it when you connect to a network?

 

[sjn419]

this reminds me, when Im in my car that has apple CarPlay and try to sound hound a song I hear on SIRIUSXM stops playing the music and switches to CarPlay. its the worst

 

[macfacts]

Still no idea why Apple didn't grab SoundHound instead, much better app, and recognizes more things than Shazam ever did for me.

Apple wanted to buy listeners private listening habits. I'm sure Apple has devs that can make a sound comparison app easily.

 

[prasand]

Still no idea why Apple didn't grab SoundHound instead, much better app, and recognizes more things than Shazam ever did for me.

I think it's a matter of popularity and simplicity / complexity. Ignoring the possibility that SoundHound might not have been for sale ... SoundHound has a lot more elements that would be more difficult or undesirable to integrate. For example, the AI aspects that are part of other systems and even robots. Does Apple want such integration and clients? I think the two platforms have different approaches. SoundHound is more of a technology company, and Shazam is social music company. The latter, along with its popularity, has a focus that fits well within Apple's agenda.

 

[Morgenland]

Asking Siri just adds a few seconds to the process when seconds actually count. It's frustrating having Shazam kick-in just as a song ends.

"Hey Siri Shazam". She does it successfully and quite fast. iPhone, HomePod etc.
[doublepost=1534961420][/doublepost]

I think it's a matter of popularity and simplicity / complexity. Ignoring the possibility that SoundHound might not have been for sale ... SoundHound has a lot more elements that would be more difficult or undesirable to integrate. For example, the AI aspects that are part of other systems and even robots. Does Apple want such integration and clients? I think the two platforms have different approaches. SoundHound is more of a technology company, and Shazam is social music company. The latter, along with its popularity, has a focus that fits well within Apple's agenda.

https://www.toptal.com/algorithms/shazam-it-music-processing-fingerprinting-and-recognition

 

[Junior117]

You mean like how they acquired the Workflow app and have now turned it into the Shortcuts app, a key part of allowing people to leverage much more powerful commands and workflows with Siri in iOS 12?

You're correct and I expect them to sunset Workflow eventually, but for now, it seems like it's going to be supported in the short term.

 

[iGeek2014]

Asking Siri just adds a few seconds to the process when seconds actually count. It's frustrating having Shazam kick-in just as a song ends.

And with iOS 12 you won’t even need to say “Hey Siri..” just “Shazam” when you set up the Shortcut setting.

 

[IGI2]

Still no idea why Apple didn't grab SoundHound instead, much better app, and recognizes more things than Shazam ever did for me.

Still no idea why they didn't grab MusiXMatch.

Much better system of lyrics with live lyrics.

Those built into Apple Music area boring, too smal, too cramped, too faceless.
[doublepost=1534970166][/doublepost]

It literally says in the picture "Listen to the full song on Apple Music, Get 3 months free"

The picture doesn't present any integration.

It's merely an ad.

By integration he meant probably a real music player, alternative for Music app, enriched with better and bigger lyrics, and with ability to recognize songs.