Apple has acquired Shazam

Enlarge (credit: Samuel Axon)

Apple confirmed today in statements to several media outlets that it will buy Shazam, pending approval. This news had previously been reported by TechCrunch, which had one source claiming the sale price was around $400 million-far less than Shazam's $1 billion valuation at its last round of funding.

Shazam is arguably best known for its music recognition technology; tap the "Shazam" button in the app for smartphones and it will usually identify whatever song it hears after just a few seconds. Shazam has become so popular that there's even a network TV game show called Beat Shazam hosted by Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx. In it, contestants must guess songs faster than Shazam can.

But Shazam has also invested in second-screen TV viewing features, image recognition, and augmented reality services and products. Shazam's talent and technology could be used in several of Apple's products and initiatives, including Apple Music, Siri, and augmented reality.

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