The Apple deal to acquire Beats, which was supposed to have happened weeks ago, has dragged out far too long. If a deal were to be made, we expect it would have been done by now, but a new report suggests there are some visceral hang-ups keeping it at bay. Most notably, the three tenets of any business dealing: money, power, and respect.
An attempt to save the music industry? An acquihire to get Dr.Dre? Two reports suggest Apple’s deal for Beats would encompass both goals. One one hand, Beats would be the iTunes streaming service many have wanted, while Dr. Dre and Beats partner Jimmy Iovine round out Apple’s “board of cool”.
With Apple’s alleged purchase of Beats hanging in the air, a rogue third-party has interjected. David Hyman, founder of Mog, is suing Beats ahead of an Apple takeover. According to him, Beats owes him quite a bit of money, or stake in the company.
Beats Music, the nascent streaming offering from Dr. Dre’s (mostly) hardware company, may not be off to the smashing success some had hoped for. A new leak suggests the service has just under 111,000 accounts, and pays artists an insulting amount per play. Conversely, the record label gets a bulk of the revenue from actual playback, which subscribers are said to be doing at an alarming rate.
With WWDC right around the corner, speculation abounds regarding iOS 8. Much like iOS 7 brought a wildly updated UI, iOS 8 is said to bring added functionality. From new Apple apps to a brand new way to multitask, iOS 8 could usher in a new age for iPhone and iPad users.
It would appear - at first glance - that the next line of Beats by Dr. Dre have been revealed in Space Gray, Gold, and Silver, replicating the most recent color schemes of the iPhone 5s. Instead, these "upbeats se" earbuds are only out-of-stock on the Beats by Dre website instead of newly released.
Apple acquiring Beats is not about design. Apple did not acquire Beats for their design prowess, as the Beats group does not design the physical elements of their own products - Ammunition Group* does. Instead, Apple will have acquired Beats for its inroads to music, one way or the other. It is possible, if this deal is done, that Apple will have made a bad decision.
As ways of announcing a $3.2bn acquisition go, popping drinks in the studio with Dr. Dre as he declares himself "the first billionaire in hip-hop" over the deal to sell Beats to Apple is one of the most memorable. In a video posted by actor Tyrese Gibson to his Instagram account, the rapper and producer behind Beats Audio seemingly confirms the sale to the iPhone maker, along with suggesting that the Forbes rich list probably now needs updating.
Notoriously quiet about acquisitions, Apple may be set to make some noise. A report from Financial Times pegs the California company as close to tucking Dr. Dre’s Beats Electronics under their wing. The deal, reportedly worth $3.2 billion, would encompass all Beats properties.
If you thought you were cool because you had Beats headphones, think again; now you need a new set of car keys. Fiat has revealed the 500L Beats Edition, a special version of its larger city car, complete with a stereo developed, tuned, and calibrated by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine as well as a new paint job complete with red and chrome trim.
When you open Beats Music - after you've signed up or signed in - you're not going to find a playlist of music you've listened to a thousand times before. Beats Music is a system that's pushed to create a music-driven experience. Instead of being just a conduit through which music is served, Beats Music makes a real effort to be a real bartender of the drinks that are musical tracks. Beats Music is not an MP3 player, it's a virtual DJ.
Beats Music, the much-anticipated Spotify rival from makers of the fashionable headphone brand, will launch on January 21st in the US, offering curated playlists delivered multiple times a day, ad-hoc track selection based on environment and mood, and over 20m tracks from major and independent labels. The service, created by Beats Electronics' Jimmy Iovine along with Dr. Dre, Luke Wood, Trent Reznor, and Ian Rogers, will attempt to address one of the big, lingering issues facing existing streaming providers: the problem of choice-overload and not being able to pick between the hundreds of thousands of albums on offer.