Apple is dropping the 'Connect' social feature from Apple Music, 1 year after buying Shazam

AP Images / J. Scott Applewhite

Apple CEO Tim Cook.

• Apple is quietly shutting down the "Connect" feature on its streaming service Apple Music.
• The feature was introduced in 2015 alongside Apple Music as a way for artists to connect directly with their fans.
• Some are pointing out that "Connect" seems to be sharing the fate of Apple's failed iTunes Ping social network.
• But Apple's acquisition of Shazam in 2017 might mean Connect is now redundant.

Apple will shut down a feature of its streaming service Apple Music which was built to let artists connect directly with their fans.

The "Connect" feature was introduced alongside Apple Music in 2015. It's somewhere between a streaming service and a social network, where artists could post updates for their fans.

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In a blog post yesterday, the company revealed that "Connect posts from artists are no longer supported."

In a letter to artists obtained by Macrumours, Apple said that all previously posted content will remain discoverable until May 24 2019. The Verge reports that in 2016 Connect's dedicated tab was relegated from the navigation bar of Apple Music, an early sign that the feature was underperforming.

Multiple news sites and blogs have compared Connect's fate to that of its failed social network iTunes Ping, which it launched in 2010 and was shut down two years later.

There could be a good reason for Connect's impending disappearance. Apple acquired the song recognition company Shazam in September 2017 with an eye to integrating it with Apple Music. Apple hasn't made the connection explicit, but Shazam already allows people to follow their favourite artists through its service. It's possible Apple doesn't want to double up on the feature.