Apple buys Shazam, the song-recognition app
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple has bought Shazam, the maker of a song-recognition app that the technology titan's Siri digital assistant already uses to help people identify the music playing on their iPhones.
The companies didn't disclose the price of the acquisition announced Monday. Recode previously reported Apple (AAPL) is paying about $400 million for Shazam, citing three unidentified people familiar with the deal. Previous funding rounds had valued the startup as high as $1 billion, according to Crunchbase.
Snap and Spotify had also approached Shazam about a possible deal, according to reports.
Apple issued a statement describing Shazam as "natural fit" with its services, but declined to say whether Shazam's app will still be available after the deal closes. It's unclear what will happen to Shazam's existing partnership with Spotify.
In 2014, Siri began using Shazam's technology to answer questions about songs as part of an update to the iPhone's operating system. Since then, Apple has launched a music streaming service that has more than 27 million subscribers.
