After months of talks and negotiations with global trade bodies, world's most valuable technology company Apple announced the completion of Shazam acquisition.
In late 2017, Apple announced plans to buy UK-based popular music-recognition application Shazam for $400 million. However, in the following months, it was met with a roadblock as the European Commission deemed the acquisition will result in less competition and might put Cupertino company's music service rivals at a disadvantage.
It had valid points, as Shazam application has huge global appeal with more than 1 billion installations and 20 million users use the app to recognise songs on both iOS and Android platforms.
Now, the matter is a closed chapter, as European Commission after due diligence gave unconditional EU antitrust approval to Apple go ahead with Shazam acquisition.
"Apple and Shazam have a long history together. Shazam was one of the first apps available when we launched the App Store and has become a favourite app for music fans everywhere. With a shared love of music and innovation, we are thrilled to bring our teams together to provide users even more great ways to discover, experience and enjoy music," Oliver Schuster, vice president of Apple Music, said in a statement.
It can be noted that Apple Music, which falls under the services (including App store) sector the company is one of the big contributors to record-breaking third quarter financial results ended June 30.
This year, for the first time, Apple beat market expectations by clocking double-digit growth. The Cupertino-based firm recorded quarterly revenue of $53.3 billion, an increase of 17 percent over the same period last year, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $2.34, up 40 percent. International sales accounted for 60 percent of the quarter's revenue.
In India, Apple Music is making huge strides to make it appealing to consumers by adding more regional content and also getting local artists onboard by offering exclusive platforms.
Read more: Apple Music: A level playing field where local Indian talent share space with international stars
Apple Music service has gained more than 50 million subscribers spread across 120 nations. It has a huge catalogue of 45 million plus songs with a myriad of genres of global appeal. With the announcement, Apple has got a shot in the arm to lower the gap between with arch-rival Spotify. Guess what? There will be no nagging ads on Shazam going forward.
The latter has already overtaken the former in the US, with Shazam in its kitty, the company has certainly gained an edge to fast-track the Apple Music subscriber growth in global markets and dethrone Spotify in near future.
