EU regulators clear Apple to buy Shazam

The European Union has signed off on Apple’s proposal to buy Shazam, effectively clearing the way for the deal to close.

Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission’s competition chief, had launched a full investigation of the proposed merger after it was announced late last year. In a statement Thursday, she said regulators had not found any antitrust concerns.

{mosads}”Data is key in the digital economy,” Vestager said in a statement. “We must therefore carefully review transactions which lead to the acquisition of important sets of data, including potentially commercially sensitive ones, to ensure they do not restrict competition. After thoroughly analysing Shazam’s user and music data, we found that their acquisition by Apple would not reduce competition in the digital music streaming market.”

Apple announced the deal in December of last year but did not disclose the purchase price.

Shazam is a service that identifies songs through a device’s microphone. The merger will allow Apple to combine Shazam’s software and user data with its Apple Music streaming service and Siri.

Vestager said Thursday that the tie-up would not push competing services out of the market.

An Apple spokesman did not respond when asked for comment