Apple is close to scooping up the popular music recognition app, Shazam, according to TechCrunch, quoting unnamed sources. It’s used by more than 100 million people each month to identify music, get song lyrics, more.
Apple and Shazam would be a great match. Shazam is one of the world’s most popular apps. One source describes the deal to TechCrunch as in the nine figures; another puts it at around $401 million.
Shazam launched in 1999. Last year it noted that it passed one billion downloads.
Since iOS 8, Shazam has been integrated into Siri; it powers the ability to let Apple’s personal digital assistant songs that are playing aloud. Also, Shazam is integrated with Apple Music; subscribers who Shazam a song can then tap to play it directly in Apple Music and can add it to a Shazam playlist.
In October 2016 Shazam launched a free Shazam for Apple’s Messages app (pictured). Users can “Shazam” and share their results as messages with friends without leaving the messaging screen. With Shazam for iMessage, listeners will be able to discover music playing around them and will be prompted to “Touch to Shazam.”
Tapping the Shazam button will initiate music recognition, just as it does when using Shazam’s other apps. The result will then be displayed in the compose field and ready to send, with results also appearing in the “My Shazam” tab of the Shazam app.
Users can tap the shared result to view: larger artwork with title and artist; Shazam count; a preview option; Apple Music and iTunes buttons.
