Apple acquires Shazam

Over the weekend TechCrunch broke news from undisclosed sources in Apple that the tech giant was close to acquiring market-leading music-ID platform Shazam — Apple confirmed the acquisition this morning. The enormously popular and influential Shazam has historically taken the role of Switzerland, standing in the midst of Spotify, Napster, Apple Music and others, offering to funnel ID’d songs to the user’s preferred listening platform. That could change. Continue Reading

A closer look at Shazam’s mobile advertising and savvy business shifts

AdExchanger profiled Shazam and its use of mobile advertising. The identification app has shifted from a business model of affiliate iTunes links to one centered on advertising. Chief Revenue Officer Greg Glenday said that half of Shazam’s inventory is sold programmatically across both private and open exchanges. It also works directly with some clients for more involved, custom campaigns. Continue Reading

Shazam debuts augmented reality platform, furthering its use as a marketing tool

Shazam has launched a new augmented reality platform for its brand partners, artists, and users. With this tool, unique Shazam Codes on real-life objects can be viewed with the app on a smartphone to unlock additional content. The codes can reveal anything from 3D animations to product visualizations, mini-games to 360-degree videos. Continue Reading

Shazam generates 30 million clicks a month to streaming services

Shazam’s director of EU partnerships, Jon Davies, shared some statistics about the app at the FastForward conference in Amsterdam. The audio identification is generating 30 million clicks a month to music streaming services such as Spotify or Apple Music. That’s in addition to sparking 400,000 daily song downloads from digital marketplaces like iTunes. Continue Reading