Apple has bought Shazam, the music recognition app - Recode

For an overview of Shazam's visual recognition capabilities (from 2015), see Shazam Introduces Visual Recognition Capabilities, Opening Up A New World Of Shazamable Content

"Note that Apple references “approval of today’s agreement,” which is also unusual. Normally Apple just buys a company and that’s that. So Apple presumably thinks that it will need some sort of regulatory approval to get the deal done — perhaps that’s because Shazam is based in the U.K. I’ll update if Apple provides any info.

One other thought: While Shazam has played up its ability to do more than just recognize a song that’s playing — it has a “visual Shazam” capability that lets you use your camera to ID objects — my hunch is that Apple is interested, first and foremost, in Shazam’s core utility. I imagine it will eventually be integrated directly into the iPhone’s iOS."

Apple has bought Shazam, the music recognition app - Recode