The European Union has now formally cleared Apple’s acquisition of Shazam. The move by regulators was widely anticipated following reports last month.
The tech giant struck a reputed $400 million deal for the music discovery app in December 2017. But the planned acquisition became the subject of a European Commission investigation in April amid concerns it might give Apple an unfair advantage in the streaming market.
Apple's deal can now go ahead after the Commission issued its findings.
“After thoroughly analyzing Shazam’s user and music data, we found that their acquisition by Apple would not reduce competition in the digital music streaming market,” said EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
“Data is key in the digital economy. We must therefore carefully review transactions which lead to the acquisition of important sets of data, including potentially commercially sensitive ones.”
As Apple Music attempts to catch up with Amazon and Google with the belated launch of its HomePod smart speaker, Shazam’s song identification software could help its efforts to develop a frictionless service. Spotify has recently signed a long-term deal with Apple rival Samsung.
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