Apple considering integrating Shazam into the next iteration of iOS

Today we heard reports from Bloomberg that Apple and Shazam are working together to integrate the music and TV recognition service into the next iteration of iOS. This would allow users to - for example - ask Apple’s virtual assistant Siri to recognise a specific track playing in the background.

If it came to fruition this could be a very big deal for Shazam, since Apple has so far only baked into iOS large entities like Facebook and Twitter, and could increase its pool of 85 million monthtly active users significantly.

Apple - quite frankly - needs to get out of its funk when it comes to its relationship with music and start exploring more innovative and daring options for increasing user engagement.

Sure, as the company is still driving the majority of download sales worldwide it has understandably been reluctant in adopting streaming technology - other than iTunes Radio - to avoid slowing those down. The recording industry in turn is certainly grateful to Apple for not jumping into a fully-fledged streaming model that could severely damage its cash-flow.

But download sales are slowing down regardless and the Cupertino company needs to find a way to gradually start the transition from downloads to streams and soon, or it risks losing its grip on consumers to companies like Spotify and Beats Music.

Shazam could be the perfect partner for Apple as it would allow the company to reframe the conversation around music consumption and discovery on the next iOS release. Furthermore, given Shazam’s recent focus on its TV partnerships, the deal could prove to be ever more interesting if integrated into the upcoming update of the Apple TV.

Taking this partnership one step further, given Shazam’s strong focus on advertising opportunities there could be some creative relationships developing with the set of tools provided by iAds and the new iBeacons technology to enable sound-aware and location-aware targeting of consumers. Interesting (and creepy) as it seems though something along these lines would represent a considerable departure of Apple on its current behaviour which is focused on protecting user privacy.

Apple also has the cash to buy Shazam outright without batting an eyelid, but it has hardly ever purchased a company with such a strong level of recognition amongst the public and such a large user base. Even a no-brainer deal like the acquisition of Waze last year dind't quite make the cut and the company was eventually snapped up by Google. Apple generally acquires smaller or technology-led companies that it can quietly integrate into its own brand. That would be a much harder thing to do if it got landed with Shazam.

Of course - once again - neither company has confirmed these rumours. Hopefully we’ll find out more at WWDC which is taking place in a few weeks between the 2nd and 6th of June. WWDC is historically the setting where Apple unveils the core features of the upcoming iteration of iOS so an integration with Shazam could be disclosed then to allow developers to take full advantage of it.

(Andrea Leonelli)