Warner, Universal and Sony buy into Shazam

Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment have each bought $3 million in shares in Shazam Entertainment, as the private company reportedly prepares for an IPO. The three labels also own a stake in Spotify.

With the company last valued at $500 million, the three labels’ collective stake makes up just 1.8%, their investment dwarfed by the $40m in shares purchased last July by America Movil: the Latin American telecommunications and TV company headed by tycoon Carlos Slim. Regardless, this investment is likely to be beneficial for all parties.

Universal Music also owns a 14% share in Beats, the company founded by Jimmy Iovine, Chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M, and Andre “Dr. Dre” Young – CEO of Aftermath. With the expected sale of Beats to Apple, this Shazam deal sees UMG aligning with three of the world’s leading digital music services.

In February, Shazam and Warner Music Group announced a partnership which sees the companies use Shazam’s user-data to discover and sign acts to a Shazam-branded imprint, under WMG.