EU Probes Apple’s Acquisition Of Shazam Over Concerns Of Potential Monopoly

The EU Commission is famously committed to fair competition in its business industry, making it fiercely against monopolies. This is why it is now looking into the acquisition of popular music recognition app Shazam by Apple. The commission is worried that the arrangement could result in smaller competitors getting hurt and stifle their growth.

In a press release, the commission explained why it was examining Apple’s acquisition of Shazam and the potential implications of the arrangement. This investigation comes on the heels of multiple countries asking the body to look into the deal to make sure that it doesn’t pose a threat to other companies providing the same service. They are also asking if it’s in according to the EU merger law.

“The European Commission has accepted a request from Austria, France, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden to assess under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Shazam by Apple. The Commission considers the transaction may threaten to adversely affect competition in the EEA,” the press release reads.

As The Verge reports, Shazam was acquired by Apple back in December, though the amount of how much it cost is still unknown. For those unaware of the app, it basically allows users to identify songs by having their devices listen to them with the tool activated.

This is a service that really clicked with people because of a universally shared trait of wanting to go insane if a song can’t be remembered. As a result, people who simply can’t let it go are forced to undergo a long journey to find out the name of the tune that keeps buzzing in their heads. With Shazam, this is no longer a problem.

Shazam is by no means the only app to offer this services, however, but it is the most popular on a global scale. With Apple as its parent company, it could have so much more influence, which competitors are rightly concerned about.