If you’ve been following the news in recent weeks, you’ll know about the hacking of Sony Pictures and recent emails from that hack have brought a number of Snapchat‘s plans into the spotlight.
As reported by TechCrunch, emails between Sony and Snapchat execs have revealed Snapchat’s purchase of QR scanning and iBeacon startup Scan.me for $14 million in cash, $3 million in restricted stock units, and $33 million in Class B common Snapchat stock. There’s also the acquisition of Vergence Labs for $11 million in cash and $4 million in stock; and AddLive for $10 million in cash and $20 million in stock and bonuses.
As far as the music feature goes, Snapchat is apparently planning on using it to promote artists with music videos viewable in the chat app. The feature was reportedly due to be released in August but “hit a snag over the revenue sharing on advertising.”
These acquisitions point to Snapchat as another example of a social app gone entertainment platform. There’s no telling when, if ever, some or all of these features will launch on the app, but it definitely shows that Facebook’s prior attempt to acquire it were for good reason.