By Simon Murdoch, Episode 1

In its acquisition by Apple which closed on the 24th September, it could be said that Shazam has found its spiritual home. The move was announced last December but finally got the all-clear from EU antitrust regulators last week after fears were raised that the deal could harm European competitors to Apple’s streaming music service. But Apple played a crucial role in Shazam’s development as a music recognition app?—?and perhaps in its survival as a business?—?by launching the first iPhone in 2007. This was the point at which consumer electronics caught up with Shazam’s technology that was far ahead of its time.