Apple confirmed Monday that it is acquiring Shazam, the popular app that identifies any song, TV show, movie, or ad by listening to a few seconds of it.
“We are thrilled that Shazam and its talented team will be joining Apple,” Apple spokesperson Tom Neumayr said in a statement to BuzzFeed News. “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,” Neumayr continued. “We have exciting plans in store, and we look forward to combining with Shazam upon approval of today’s agreement.”
A spokesperson for Shazam also confirmed the acquisition.
TechCrunch first reported news of the deal Friday. The acquisition price has not been made public, but it is likely less than half of the $1 billion Shazam was said to be worth during its last round of fundraising in 2015. Shazam was founded in London in 1999, but found its footing as a mobile app popularized after Apple launched its App Store in 2008. By 2013, the company’s CEO, Rich Riley, announced that Shazam was one of the 10 most popular apps in the world. In September 2016, Shazam said it surpassed 1 billion downloads.
The Shazam acquisition is just Apple’s latest foray into the world of music tech. In 2014, it purchased Beats for $3 billion, a move that laid the groundwork for the streaming service Apple Music. In 2016, the company bought the popular Carpool Karaoke TV series. As of September 2017, Apple Music boasts 30 million users, compared with 60 million paying subscribers on Spotify (and 140 million paid and free Spotify subscribers in total), and 4.9 million paid subscribers on Pandora.