28 August 2019
Marco Gandolfi
When Apple successfully completed the acquisition of Shazam just under a year ago, many were skeptical of the $400 million price tag. As useful as Shazam is, the app can sometimes feel a little gimmicky and with most televisions now having a live pause and rewind function, simply googling lyrics remains an adequate way of finding the name of an unknown track. However, so far, Apple has managed to capitalize on the purchase of the platform and successfully integrate Shazam into the music streaming sphere. But just how have they done this? And why has the idea caught on so quickly?
Just over a year ago, Apple Music launched a beta of its Apple Music for Artists which allows musicians and their teams to see how much a song has been played, purchased and how many listeners its reaching. Earlier in the month, the company took the product out of the beta stage to add numerous features and to also incorporate Shazam into the process. The goal of the Apple Music For Artists is to capture listener behavior beyond Apple music through the use of the music discovery app. This makes it an extremely useful tool for artists, who can shift promotion and focus to songs which are doing well on Shazam but not necessarily in terms of playback on Apple music and other platforms.
The Digital Transition in the Music Industry and Beyond
With physical music sales dropping, the way people access music is changing. Apple are well aware of the importance of streaming and how apps such as Shazam can differentiate them from platforms such as Spotify and Deezer. It's also worth pointing out that a number of other industries have also followed suit with regards to benefiting from the increased accessibility of online resources.
The Shazam Discovery Top 50
Apple's latest Shazam adventure will feature a global, weekly ranking of the top 50 artists and their respective trending tracks based on Shazam data. If the primary goal of Shazam was initially to help listeners identify an unknown track, its secondary function was surely to introduce users to new music and help upcoming artists gain exposure. With this in mind, the creation of this chart looks like a masterstroke from Apple and will also help rival Spotify when it comes to the gathering of data. While the chart is still in its infancy, it could prove to be vital to Apple Music in giving the platform a slight edge over competitors.
Final Thoughts
It's no coincidence that Apple continue to sit atop the entertainment throne after the best part of two decades. The company is extremely shrewd and forward-thinking when it comes to planning for the future and whatever they have in store next for Shazam, you can guarantee that it will be well thought out and executed. Many may have scoffed at Apple when they purchased Shazam for close to half a billion dollars but at present, Apple look set to have the last laugh.