Apple snaps up music analytics firm Asaii

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apple-music
Asaii's platform could help improve Apple Music.
Photo: Apple

Apple has acquired a music analytics startup called Asaii, according to a new report.

It is believed the acquisition, which could help Apple deliver better recommendations to Apple Music subscribers, cost less than $100 million. Asaii claims its platform can pick out the hottest artists “10 weeks to a year” before they even hit the charts.

Delivering good recommendations is hugely important in the music streaming business. No one wants to pay $10 a month to listen to the same collection of tracks and albums over and over again, so services must point us toward new music we’ll enjoy.

Apple Music’s recommendations are already pretty decent, but they could be about to get a lot better.

Apple acquires Asaii for better recommendations

Apple has snapped up music analytics firm Asaii, according to an Axios report. The deal, which was “worth less than $100 million,” was spilled by unnamed sources and verified by employee profiles on LinkedIn.

Asaii’s platform offers an algorithm that delivers recommendations based on a user’s listening habits. It also delivers data pulled from music services and social media, which can help labels plan marketing campaigns and live tours, and discover new artists.

Asaii claims its technology can be used to discover new artists “10 weeks to a year” before they chart, which could help uncover “the next Justin Bieber.”

Apple strengthens its focus on music

The acquisition of Asaii comes less than a month after Apple completed the purchase of Shazam. The music recognition service, which is now used more than 20 million times a day, will also give Apple access to a wealth of data that could help improve Apple Music.

This is all a part of Apple’s fight to gain an advantage over Spotify, which remains the biggest music streaming service in the world.

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