Were you ever watching a YouTube video on your phone while wondering what song was playing in the background? In fact, You NEEDED to know what song was playing, but you had no way to figure it out? Well, Shazam (on Android devices) now has you covered. The new feature called ‘Pop-up Shazam’ is included in the latest Android version of the app. It ‘listens’ to audio playing through headphones and other apps while Shazam is working in the background. Game-changer? I think so.
This change is arriving recently after Apple acquired Shazam for $400 million, a deal which closed earlier this year. Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music shared his gratitude for the acquisition mentioning in a statement:
“Apple and Shazam have a long history together. Shazam was one of the first apps available when we launched the App Store and has become a favorite app for music fans everywhere. With a shared love of music and innovation, we are thrilled to bring our teams together to provide users even more great ways to discover, experience and enjoy music.”
Founded in 1999, Shazam has come a long way and is already reaping the benefits of this acquisition. Not only will this new feature be extremely practical with the app, Shazam removed all of those pesky ads as of last year too.
In 2014, Apple also acquired Beats by Dre for a reported $3.2 billion. Besides headphones and audio accessors, this included the subscription-based Beats Music streaming service. As I reported earlier this week, Apple surpassed Spotify in paid U.S subscribers, proving this acquisition fruitful in getting Apple on the music streaming map. Stayed tuned to see what Shazam has in store for the future.