Shazam, a UK company founded in 1999, uses a smartphone or a computer to identify and buy music through a snippet of sound. Shazam says it has more than 100 million monthly users and makes the most of its revenue from commissions on referrals to Apple’s iTunes Store.
If the deal is confirmed, Shazam will become the latest in a string of UK technology firms that were bought up by huge businesses.
The Music Business Worldwide site points out that the reported price is significantly lower than $1 Billion valuation price on Shazam during its last funding round in 2015.
Shazam would no longer be referring people to rivals Spotify and Google Play Music, as a result, it will hurt the competition between the Apps. The deal will also help the Apple Music service to gain a solid ground on Spotify, by making it easier for users to find songs and add them to their playlist.
At the moment, Spotify has 60 million users worldwide, while Apple Music has a significantly less number of users at just 27 million.