Apple Music Rolls Out New Shazam Technology To Ensure Rightsholders Are Compensated

Shazam technology will now be used to identify tracks in Apple Music’s DJ mixes to ensure that rightsholders will be compensated for their use. The platform currently hosts mixes from a variety of events and promoters including Boiler Room, Tomorowland, Mixmag and French livestream platform Cercle, as well as mixes from DJS such as Honey Dijon, Amorphous, DBN Gogo, DJ Clue, Dām Funk and Funk Flex.

Apple Music first acquired Shazam for $400 million back in 2018, granting the company access to over a decade’s worth of research and development of Shazam as well as a wealth of global user-listening data. DJs have spoken fondly of this development, as it can allow users to have insights to what they are playing.

“Apple Music is the first platform that offers continuous mixes where there’s a fair fee involved for the artists whose tracks are included in the mixes and for the artist making those mixes,” DJ Charlotte de Witt explained in a statement to Music Business Worldwide. “It’s a step in the right direction where everyone gets treated fairly. I’m beyond excited to have the chance to provide online mixes again. There’s a different approach to it compared to playing a peak time set in a club or at a festival. It enables me to, without any limits, offer an insight in my music collection.”

This new development also follows Apple Music’s letter to artists, which claimed that the service would pay the double of Spotify’s current streaming rates. Streaming was also a major factor in the US music industry’s $1 billion growth during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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