ZCZC
BCN-14
EU-APPLE-MERGER-SHAZAM
EU clears Apple plan to buy music app Shazam
BRUSSELS, Sept 7, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The EU on Thursday approved US tech
giant Apple’s plan to buy leading song-recognition app Shazam, saying the
move would not reduce choice for music streaming consumers.
The bloc launched a detailed probe into the deal with London-based Shazam,
worth a reported $400 million, in April, at the request of several EU states
amid fears it could harm competition in an intensifying battle of streaming
services.
The Apple-Shazam investigation was another round in the ongoing tussle
between Brussels and Silicon Valley as the European Union adopts tougher
regulation for the likes of Facebook, Google and Amazon.
“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, to ensure they do not
restrict competition,” EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in
a statement.
“After thoroughly analysing Shazam’s user and music data, we found that
their acquisition by Apple would not reduce competition in the digital music
streaming market.”
Apple announced the deal in December last year in a fresh effort to gain
an edge in the music streaming market where Sweden-based Spotify dominates.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said in May the company’s streaming service Apple Music
had hit 50 million paying subscribers — well back on the 83 million
announced by Spotify in July.
The EU examined whether the takeover would allow Apple to gain access to
commercially sensitive data about customers of its rivals and then use that
information to better target customers of other streaming services and
improve its own offer, which has struggled since its launch in 2015.
Officials also looked at whether Apple Music’s competitors would be harmed
if Apple were to discontinue links from the Shazam app to rivals.
– ‘Limited importance’ –
In its ruling, the EU said the merged entity would not be able to shut out
streaming competitors by accessing commercially sensitive customer data or by
restricting access to Shazam.
Officials said Shazam’s data would not increase Apple’s ability to target
customers, and the app was of “limited importance” as an entry point to rival
streaming services.
Shazam, founded in 1999 in the early age of online music, has offered a
solution to an age-old problem — putting a name to elusive songs. With a
click, the app identifies tracks playing on the radio, at parties or as
background music.
But Shazam has struggled to find a way to make money off its technology,
even as it said that it had reached one billion downloads on smartphones last
year.
Shazam only recently announced it had become profitable, thanks to
advertising and steering traffic to other sites such as Spotify and Apple
Music.
BSS/AFP/HR/1005