RUMOR MILL
Claiming 450 million global users, Shazam is said to be queuing up
for an IPO.
for an IPO.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
MAJORS GO SHAZAM
WSJ Reports Says UMG, Sony, WMG Take $3m Stake in Music-Recognition Tech Company
Point your phone at this: the Wall Street Journal is citing "people familiar with the matter" who say UMG, Sony and WMG owner Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries are taking $3 million stakes each in music-recognition app Shazam.
The U.K. tech company, whose charts of the most tagged songs you can find here (Iggy Azalea’s "Fancy" is #1 in the U.S., if you must know), is currently valued in the neighborhood of $500 million.
As the New York Times reported in February, WMG has a joint record label in the works with Shazam that presumably showcases acts discovered via the app.
Claiming 450 million global users, Shazam is said to be queuing up for an IPO.
This all might seem the tiniest bit quaint in the context of Apple’s monster bid to buy Beats (in which UMG has a 14% overall stake, while Access has put $160m into Beats Music alone) but it’s a reminder that along with Spotify (with its own IPO allegedly on the way) and other highly trafficked applications, the majors are well invested in the most popular music technologies.
Speaking of Apple, reports are circulating that it’s in talks with Shazam to incorporate the latter’s song recognition in future iOS architecture.
Still, the Journal’s Hannah Karp points out, the Shazammiest investor of all is Carlos Slim’s Mexican mobile carrier América Móvil, which kicked in $40m last year.
The U.K. tech company, whose charts of the most tagged songs you can find here (Iggy Azalea’s "Fancy" is #1 in the U.S., if you must know), is currently valued in the neighborhood of $500 million.
As the New York Times reported in February, WMG has a joint record label in the works with Shazam that presumably showcases acts discovered via the app.
Claiming 450 million global users, Shazam is said to be queuing up for an IPO.
This all might seem the tiniest bit quaint in the context of Apple’s monster bid to buy Beats (in which UMG has a 14% overall stake, while Access has put $160m into Beats Music alone) but it’s a reminder that along with Spotify (with its own IPO allegedly on the way) and other highly trafficked applications, the majors are well invested in the most popular music technologies.
Speaking of Apple, reports are circulating that it’s in talks with Shazam to incorporate the latter’s song recognition in future iOS architecture.
Still, the Journal’s Hannah Karp points out, the Shazammiest investor of all is Carlos Slim’s Mexican mobile carrier América Móvil, which kicked in $40m last year.
