Apple’s December 2017 deal to acquire Shazam for a reported $400 million has resulted in increased profit and user base for the popular song identification service.
In spite of opposition from EU regulators who feared that the deal might hurt competition, Shazam has been growing since the Apple deal. As detailed by Billboard, Shazam’s annual report and financial statements submitted to the UK’s Companies House reveal that its active user base grew from 400 million in 2018 to 478 million. “Shazam’s 2018 profit was $34.5 million, less than 2017’s $44.8 million, but boasted a profit of $158.4 million and reversed $19.4 million in losses the year prior,” noted AppleInsider.
Although Shazam’s revenue was down from $44.8 million in 2017 to $34.5 million, that’s because Apple last September removed all advertisements from the iPhone and iPad app.
The audio fingerprinting service still has its iPhone and iPad apps available to download from App Store. Another consequence of the Shazam-Apple deal: the average number of monthly employees for Shazam decreased from 225 in 2017 to 216 in 2018.
The Siri personal assistant has for years supported music identification based on the Shazam engine (“Hey Siri, what’s playing?”) and Apple Music recently introduced a top 50 chart populated by trending tracks and artist searches using Shazam.
Do you use Shazam on Apple devices via Siri?