Apple to purchase Shazam

Apple will acquire music-recognition service Shazam, the company confirmed on Monday.

Apple says the purchase will help advance its operations in the digital music business, which Shazam has played a significant part in since Apple created iTunes, and more recently with its Apple streaming service.{mosads}

“Apple Music and Shazam are a natural fit, sharing a passion for music discovery and delivering great music experiences to our users,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement. “Since the launch of the App Store, Shazam has consistently ranked as one of the most popular apps for iOS. Today, it’s used by hundreds of millions of people around the world, across multiple platforms.”

Apple has not publicly said how much it’s paying for Shazam, but sources told TechCrunch that the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech firm is paying around $400 million for the company.

The number is under half the $1 billion valuation the app company received in 2015 following a round of funding at the time.

Other companies were reportedly interested in acquiring Shazam. Snap, the visual messaging app, met with the company to discuss potentially buying it, according to Recode.

The acquisition could give Apple another tool to help it in its competition with Spotify, which dominates the music streaming space with its more than 60 million subscribers compared with Apple Music’s roughly 30 million.