Apple Inc. is close to having ownership of Shazam Entertainment Ltd., the startup whose music recognition app is already built into Apple's Siri virtual assistant, according to a person familiar with the discussion.
TechCrunch earlier reported the takeover, adding that is could value Shazam at about 300 million pounds ($404million). An Apple spokesman declined a comment and a Shazam representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
By acquiring Shazam, Apple would basically cut out the middleman and save money on commissions. It would hurt the competition since the Shazam app would no longer be referring people to rivals Spotify and Google Play Music.
The Shazam app uses the microphone on a smartphone to identify almost any song playing nearby. The acquisition would help Apple embed that capability more deeply into its music offerings, which include a music-streaming service and the iTunes Store. Should Apple decide to remove Shazam from the mobile app store of Alphabet Inc.’s Google, it could prove a key differentiator for prospective customers.
