EU to scrutinize Apple's Shazam takeover on competition concerns from member states

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
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in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV
The European Commission on Tuesday said it will look into whether Apple's proposed Shazam acquisition meets competition standards, following a request by several EU countries.




The request was initially made by Austria, but subsequently joined by France, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden.

"On the basis of the elements submitted by Austria and the countries joining the referral request, and without prejudice to the outcome of its full investigation, the Commission considers that the transaction may have a significant adverse effect on competition in the European Economic Area," the Commission said. "The Commission has also concluded that it is the best placed authority to deal with the potential cross-border effects of the transaction."

Shazam is a preeminent music recognition app, so much so that Apple wove it into Siri in 2014. Apple announced plans to buy it outright in December 2017.

The Commission may be worried about the company forcing competing music services out of the app. While the Android version has hooks for several services like Google Play, Spotify and Deezer, the iOS version is limited mostly to Apple Music, iTunes and Spotify -- and many songs may not link to the last of the three, based in Sweden.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 41
    randominternetpersonrandominternetperson Posts: 3,100member
    Remind me not to found a company inside the EU.  They make everything difficult.  Shazam is a tiny, niche company and they are throwing around anti-competitiveness concerns?
    Nameo_bshankracerhomie3jbdragonRobPalmer9watto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 2 of 41
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    randominternetperson said:
    Remind me not to found a company inside the EU.  They make everything difficult.  Shazam is a tiny, niche company and they are throwing around anti-competitiveness concerns?
    Apple paid $400m.  They aren't that tiny and niche.
    chiamuthuk_vanalingam[Deleted User]
  • Reply 3 of 41
    revenantrevenant Posts: 621member
    if the EU spent more time scrutinising their budget they would find they have a hell of a lot more money then necessary to run their gov't and that many people are redundant and/or are paid way to much.

    elijahgracerhomie3bshankcornchiplukeijbdragonRobPalmer9watto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 4 of 41
    revenantrevenant Posts: 621member
    Rayz2016 said:
    revenant said:
    and I did not know Norway was in the EU ...
    It isn’t really, but does have a trading partnership. 

    My guess is that you’ll find Spotify at the end of this particular paper chain. 



    I know they are not (usually voting near 75% in the "no"). just surprised to see their name
    edited February 2018
  • Reply 5 of 41
    vannygeevannygee Posts: 61member
    Competition in markets is important.
    stanthemanavon b7
  • Reply 6 of 41
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,641member
    The issue that's reportedly a concern is how Apple's control of the extensive data that comes along with Shazam, combined with what Apple is already collecting from Apple Music might affect smaller competitors. 
  • Reply 7 of 41
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    revenant said:
    and I did not know Norway was in the EU ...
    It isn’t really, but does have a trading partnership. 

    My guess is that you’ll find Spotify at the end of this particular paper chain. 


    jbdragon
  • Reply 8 of 41
    randominternetpersonrandominternetperson Posts: 3,100member
    vannygee said:
    Competition in markets is important.
    Tell me what market Shazam is in.  What that market is, Apple isn't currently in it.  Ergo, how can Apple buying Shazam effect competition in that market?
    edited February 2018 racerhomie3bshankwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 41
    randominternetpersonrandominternetperson Posts: 3,100member

    crowley said:
    randominternetperson said:
    Remind me not to found a company inside the EU.  They make everything difficult.  Shazam is a tiny, niche company and they are throwing around anti-competitiveness concerns?
    Apple paid $400m.  They aren't that tiny and niche.
    1/2000th of the size of Apple.  

    Ok maybe the company isn't technically "tiny" but they are the epitome of niche.
    bshankjbdragonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 41
    sunman42sunman42 Posts: 296member
    I guess Brexit just can't come fast enough. Remind me, has Austria ever been known for popular or cutting-edge tech? Or anything else, for that matter, other than pastries, music, scenery, and never admitting its deeply Nazi past.... and present?
    randominternetpersoncornchipjbdragonjony0
  • Reply 11 of 41
    bshankbshank Posts: 257member
    crowley said:
    randominternetperson said:
    Remind me not to found a company inside the EU.  They make everything difficult.  Shazam is a tiny, niche company and they are throwing around anti-competitiveness concerns?
    Apple paid $400m.  They aren't that tiny and niche.
    This guy 🙄
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 41
    racerhomie3racerhomie3 Posts: 1,264member
    gatorguy said:
    The issue that's reportedly a concern is how Apple's control of the extensive data that comes along with Shazam, combined with what Apple is already collecting from Apple Music might affect smaller competitors. 
    Lol , no one is stopping you from using AirPlay.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 41
    racerhomie3racerhomie3 Posts: 1,264member
    EU is cancer.
    bshankRobPalmer9
  • Reply 14 of 41
    racerhomie3racerhomie3 Posts: 1,264member
    sunman42 said:
    I guess Brexit just can't come fast enough. Remind me, has Austria ever been known for popular or cutting-edge tech? Or anything else, for that matter, other than pastries, music, scenery, and never admitting its deeply Nazi past.... and present?
    Turkey still denies the Armenian genocide.
  • Reply 15 of 41
    bshankbshank Posts: 257member
    Remind me not to found a company inside the EU.  They make everything difficult.  Shazam is a tiny, niche company and they are throwing around anti-competitiveness concerns?
    Yep. Pretty much. No EU person will admit it, but their policies make it almost impossible for small startups to do well or in this case to receive a solid payday for their hard work. Apparently the EU wants the company to be beholden to government choice as their business priority
    edited February 2018 racerhomie3randominternetpersonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 41
    bestkeptsecretbestkeptsecret Posts: 4,285member

    This is a little weird:



    The board is acting up.

    edited February 2018
  • Reply 17 of 41
    fred1fred1 Posts: 1,133member
    And the Euro-bashing begins just like it does every time there’s a story about the EU trying to limit monopolies and maintain competition. But it’s normal when the only news sources you read are from the US. The US has been afraid of the EU for many years because it sees it as a threat, both ecomical and political.  Wake up folks!

    Austria - have you ever even been to Austria? Have you ever met anyone from there? It’s a country where a lot is happening and you really should learn something about it before you revile it. 

    Turkey???  Yea, well, Japan has territorial disputes with S. Korea and Russia but I don’t see how Turkey or Japan has anything to do with the subject of this article. 

    Another enlightening set of comments on AI. 
    edited February 2018 muthuk_vanalingam[Deleted User]charlesgres
  • Reply 18 of 41
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Even under Hitler or Stalin, a farmer could choose to produce any cheese he preferred. Nowadays, the EU official is watching him. – Janusz Korwin-Mikke

    sunman42 said:
    ...Austria… ...its deeply Nazi past.... and present?
    lol.
    fred1 said:
    And the Euro-bashing begins just like it does every time there’s a story about the EU trying to limit monopolies and maintain competition
    An organization explicitly designed for the sole purpose of committing the crime against humanity of [content redacted for “political” reasons]–as admitted by its founders–is getting bashed? Gee. How about that.
    The US has been afraid of the EU for many years because it sees it as a threat, both ecomical and political.  Wake up folks!
    Someone sure needs to wake up if they think the US is “threatened” by the organization its treasonous leadership purposely helped create.

    edited February 2018 bshankwatto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 41
    fred1fred1 Posts: 1,133member

    Even under Hitler or Stalin, a farmer could choose to produce any cheese he preferred. Nowadays, the EU official is watching him. – Janusz Korwin-Mikke

    sunman42 said:
    ...Austria… ...its deeply Nazi past.... and present?
    lol.
    fred1 said:
    And the Euro-bashing begins just like it does every time there’s a story about the EU trying to limit monopolies and maintain competition
    An organization explicitly designed for the sole purpose of committing the crime against humanity of [content redacted for “political” reasons]–as admitted by its founders–is getting bashed? Gee. How about that.
    The US has been afraid of the EU for many years because it sees it as a threat, both ecomical and political.  Wake up folks!
    Someone sure needs to wake up if they think the US is “threatened” by the organization its treasonous leadership purposely helped create.

    The US helped create the EU?  Possibly, but not likely.  Yes, the US saved Europe from fascism, but that's as far as it goes.  And that was a while ago. And even if the US did help create the EU way back when, does that mean that it's not threatened by it?  No.
    edited February 2018
  • Reply 20 of 41
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 8,019member

    Even under Hitler or Stalin, a farmer could choose to produce any cheese he preferred. Nowadays, the EU official is watching him. – Janusz Korwin-Mikke

    sunman42 said:
    ...Austria… ...its deeply Nazi past.... and present?
    lol.
    fred1 said:
    And the Euro-bashing begins just like it does every time there’s a story about the EU trying to limit monopolies and maintain competition
    An organization explicitly designed for the sole purpose of committing the crime against humanity of [content redacted for “political” reasons]–as admitted by its founders–is getting bashed? Gee. How about that.
    The US has been afraid of the EU for many years because it sees it as a threat, both ecomical and political.  Wake up folks!
    Someone sure needs to wake up if they think the US is “threatened” by the organization its treasonous leadership purposely helped create

    .

    As for the US feeling 'threatened'. I'm not sure if that's the word but it surely could be. Not too long ago there were rumblings of world trading in crude oil moving to the euro. That simple move would have undermined the entire US economy. Definitely reason to be very concerned at the very least.

    My guess is that most people who have actually lived in both places would choose the EU as place of permanent residence if they had the choice. That's my experience after having dealt with countless US citizens residing in the EU for work purposes over more than two decades.

    Sometimes it's the little (big) things that count.

    www.thenationalstudent.com/In-Depth/2016-05-18/uk_vs_us_food_what_i_learned_during_my_time_abroad.html

    Protections, there are many. Food Safety and labelling is one. Competition is another. This move will scrutinise the deal to guarantee that it will not alter the playing field too much. Is that any different to what the US does?

    On a broader scale belonging to the EU affords us power, influence and protection that we wouldn't enjoy otherwise. Even the latest polls now claim that British opinion has changed over Brexit. Not that there was overwhelming support for it in the first place.

    The scrutiny of this deal would be less effective if every member state had to evaluate it individually.

    You chose to quote Janusz Korwin-Mikke. Very unfortunate given his record and entirely unrepresentative of the realities of the EU.
    edited February 2018
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