Apple is buying the song-identification service Shazam, which helps users learn the names and artists behind songs they play for Shazam’s app. The deal has been valued at $400 million.
“We are thrilled that Shazam and its talented team will be joining Apple,” an Apple spokesperson told The Verge. “Apple Music and Shazam are a natural fit, sharing a passion for music discovery and delivering great music experiences to our users. We have exciting plans in store, and we look forward to combining with Shazam upon approval of today’s agreement.”
Apple and Shazam already had a close relationship. Once music fans use Shazam’s app on their phones to listen to songs they want more information about, they can buy the songs on Apple Music.
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“We are excited to announce that Shazam has entered into an agreement to become part of Apple,” Shazam said in a statement to the Verge. “Shazam is one of the highest rated apps in the world and loved by hundreds of millions of users and we can’t imagine a better home for Shazam to enable us to continue innovating and delivering magic for our users.”
The London-based Shazam boasts more than 100 million monthly users, and hit one billion total downloads last year. A Recode report last week said the deal was worth $400 million.
Shazam has raised more than $140 million from investors, including Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, since its 1999 founding. (Before it was an app, you needed to send Shazam a text to get song details.) The deal comes in well below the $1 billion valuation the company received from Pitchbook after its latest financing round in 2015.
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