Apple has closed its purchase of Shazam, and is making the app ad free.
It started in December 2017 when Apple said that it would acquire Shazam in a reportedly deal valued at $400 million. The acquisition was temporarily held up because of an investigation by the European Union, which scrutinized the deal over potential antitrust concerns.
But after the regulators gave it a green light, Shazam is finally Apple's.
For Shazam, acquired by Apple should provide it with the technology and resources needed to bolster its music service. As for Apple, by making the app ad free, the company can increase the usage and gather more about user data. That can also help it to make Apple Music better.
What's more, Shazam is bringing more than just music discovery to Apple, as its models could also be used in other services.
According to Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music:
Shazam has been downloaded more than 1 billion times around the world, enabling users to identify songs using the app over 20 million times each day.
"With pioneering innovation in music identification, Shazam helps people discover, interact with and share video, audio or printed content across devices and mediums — and allows music fans to follow their favorite artists and share in the thrill of discovery," said Apple on its press release.
Shazam is one of Apple’s biggest acquisitions both in music and overall, highlighting the investment the iPhone maker is willing to make to expand not just its hardware, but also the services that run on them.
Previous notable acquisition in music, was when Apple acquired Beats for $3 billion.