Why Apples purchase of Shazam is bad news for Android users

Earlier this week Apple Inc agreed to purchased the popular UK music app 'Shazam.'

Why would apple want to purchase such an app? The reason is quite simple, Apple is falling behind Spotify which has twice as many users as the Apple music service. 

Shazam makes money by referring users to the 3 most popular music services, Google, Spotify and Apple Music. Apple is expected to save millions of dollars per year by no longer having to pay out commissions to Shazam. 

Apple is also expected to remove the sponsored listing of Google and Spotify music links so users of Shazam will no longer have the option to download songs, unless they are available on Apple Music.

Apple confirmed the acquisition in a statement provided to MacRumors and several other media outlets today:

We are thrilled that Shazam and its talented team will be joining Apple. 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 Music and Shazam are a natural fit, sharing a passion for music discovery and delivering great music experiences to our users. We have exciting plans in store, and we look forward to combining with Shazam upon approval of today's agreement.

Shazam issued the following statement:

We are excited to announce that Shazam has entered into an agreement to become part of Apple. Shazam is one of the highest rated apps in the world and loved by hundreds of millions of users and we can't imagine a better home for Shazam to enable us to continue innovating and delivering magic for our users.

The problem with Apple Music

As an Apple Developer, I have access to the affiliate portal. I have also purchased music on the Apple Music portal. The main problem with purchasing through Apple, is that music does not play on non Apple devices due to strict DRM (digital rights management). Even though I have purchased the music, I cannot play or listen to it. Spotify and Google do not impose the same restrictions on users. 

Examples of Apples affiliate tools

Apple has some pretty good affiliate tools. You can see from the examples below. I would strongly recommend not using Apple Music just because of the strict DRM.