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On December 11, 2017, Apple announced via press release that it wanted to take over the music recognition service Shazam. The EU then expressed concerns that Apple could become too powerful.
The purchase price is estimated at around 400 million dollars - making this one of the largest takeovers in Apple's history. The UK-based music recognition service has already worked very closely with Apple before. Siri's music search function was only made possible by Shazam. What exactly Apple's goals are with Shazam remain unknown.
No concerns
The EU Commission needed nine months to examine the takeover. Now the EU competition authorities appear to have approved the purchase.
The fear that Apple could gain unfair advantages in the music market was the real reason for the review.
An official announcement of the decision is expected in mid-September. There will also be no conditions for Apple to dictate the direction of the proceedings with the music recognition technology.
Apple could achieve greater advantages in music recognition by implementing the service directly into its own system. It remains to be seen whether the Shazam app will continue to exist.
