How Apple acquiring Shazam for $400m could get its tech edge back

Apple is later today today expected to announce that it is buying UK music recognition smartphone app Shazam, for $US400 million.

The $50 million-a-year British app, launched in 2009, was an instant smash allowing music fans to identify a song playing nearby by creating a database of more than 11 million “acoustic fingerprints”.

That expanded to audio and visual fragments of TV shows, films and ads.

Earlier this year came augmented reality technology that allows users to point their phones at a special label to scan a Shazam Code and see additional information, allowing brands and artists to reach audiences through an intriguing interactive medium which includes 3D animations, product visualizations, mini-games and 360-degree videos.

Shazam has a 100 million monthly active users and users Shazam over 20 million times each day.

The app hasbeen downloaded over a billion times, and the company reports 20 billion Shazams since launch.

Apple’s price is far less than the $1.5 billion Shazam was valued at two years ago,

But the deal could allow Apple to incorporate Shazam techology into its iPhone, and offer the same deal as what Google has done with its high-end Pixel 2 smartphone.

Apple needs to pull off something like this. After previously being considered the watermark of cutting end technology, a recent culture where decisions take too long to be made has left Google and Samsung looking more hip with their target markets.

In October 2017, a survey by Reticle Research in America found that Apple had lost to Google in terms of generating passion and trust in their product. Only 80% of those surveyed would recommend Apple product to their friends and family compared to 90% for Google and Amazon.

Spotify acquired a music identification startup of its own back in March when it bought British company Sonalytic.

Snapchat‘s parent company, Snap, previously showed interest in Shazam.