Apple completed a purchase of music recognition app Shazam for an estimated $400 million and announced plans to make the product available advert-free.

The deal was first announced in December 2017, but completion was held up by the European Commission due to concerns it could reduce choice in the music streaming market. The Commission cleared the acquisition earlier this month.

In a statement, the tech giant said: “The app will soon offer its experience ad-free for all users so everyone can enjoy the best of Shazam without interruption.”

It’s not clear if Apple will integrate Shazam’s core product, but the idea is likely to boost its music streaming service and step up competition with major rivals Google and Spotify (which, along with Snap, was also reportedly interested in buying Shazam).

Oliver Schusser, VP of Apple Music said: “With a shared love of music and innovation, we are thrilled to bring our teams together to provide users even more great ways to discover, experience and enjoy music.”

Apple added Shazam has been downloaded over 1 billion times and is used over 20 million times each day.

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