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Cue praises Beats curated playlists and headphones; Iovine disses Apple’s EarPods

Eddy Cue, Jimmy Iovine, Apple, Beats Music, Code Conference(Image via Re/code)

It’s typical in any acquisition for both parties to sing the praises of their new partner, and Eddy Cue was certainly playing his part at Re/code’s Code Conference, saying that Beats’ curated playlists were a key strength and would help music grow again. As Mark Gurman reported in his live blog coverage at Code Conference:

Cue said Apple bought Beats because “music is dying. It hasn’t been growing.” He said combining the two companies will help it grow again […]

Cue said what makes Beats good is that it provides users with curated playlists.

He said: “When you bring what Beats has got and what we’ve got it’s not two plus two is four. It’s something much more than that” …

While many would disagree, Cue also said that Beats made “amazing premium headphones.”

Iovine, however, was less fulsome in his praise of Apple products, saying of the EarPods supplied with new iPhones:

You listen to ‘Apocalypse Now’ and a helicopter sounds like a mosquito […] They make them to see if the machine works.

Cue took it well, saying that “we make the best headphones that come in the box.”

Cue’s admission that Apple’s music business was in decline followed an analyst report yesterday suggesting that year-on-year iTunes sales had declined 24 percent. He did, however, point out that the service recently hit a total of 35B songs sold, and also had 40M iTunes Radio listeners.

Business Insider, meantime, put the size of the acquisition into perspective:
perspective

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Comments

  1. Taste_of_Apple - 10 years ago

    Odd to criticize Apple when Beats has mixed reviews for their headphones.

  2. randomguyishere - 10 years ago

    Iovine already doesn’t seem to be a guy I would want on my team. They just paid you billions of dollars. Show some respect, man!

    • Robert Rooney - 10 years ago

      He may not be the kind of guy you want, but he’s the kind you need. Granted the whole taking Beats from Monster was just shooting fish in a barrel, but Iovine brings a lot of experience and a lot of lawyers to the table. And it’s what’s needed right now. Not just for the music side of things, but Apple TV as well to get the content providers to start playing nicely with the cable companies so that broadband feeds to those Apple TVs are unhindered by speed or limited content.

      Is Iovine a dick with that statement? Yeah. But rude people are whats needed to get things done sometimes.

      • herb02135go - 10 years ago

        Going to earbuds with distinctive right and left earbuds was an awful decision and really makes it tough on the disabled. I’m surprised there hasn’t been a class action lawsuit.

      • André Hedegaard Petersen - 10 years ago

        @Herb02135go, are you crazy? A lawsuit, because a company didn’t prioritise handicapped people? Only in America I guess such stupid people exist to sue over something so trivial.

        Handicapped people can just tie a knot on one of the wires, that way they’ll know its for the left or right ear.
        I’m hoping handicapped people aren’t too retarded for such a feat.

        Anyway, theres more normal people than disabled people in the world (thankfully) so a company should always make products for the normal amongst us. Handicapped people can go get their stuff at specialist shops, buy a pair of specialist headphones if tying a knot is too difficult.

    • Steffen Jobbs - 10 years ago

      I think Iovine should be honest in his opinion and in this case he’s probably right. How much bass can you get out of an Apple Earpod? I don’t have a problem if he’s critical of my product as long as he can explain to me how to improve upon it. A company doesn’t need to be filled with YES men because they’re useless.

      • J.latham - 10 years ago

        Maybe I don’t listen to stuff with a lot of bass but the EarPods sound (and feel) pretty damn good to me. This is the first thing that Cook has done that has me really worried bout the company. Both in Hardware, Software, and Brand I don’t see much to add to the company they couldn’t have done themselves.

      • jpatel330 - 10 years ago

        +1 to that. I hope they do have a plan to improve the headphones that “come in the box” and I have no problem if he is dissing the EarPod as long as he can deliver an improvement. However, the improvement has to come with cost in mind. It’s easy to make great sounding head phones if cost is not an issue.

  3. Max Van Aubel - 10 years ago

    Can we watch the whole interview somewhere?

    • Zac Hall - 10 years ago

      Re/code will share the full interview eventually, and we’ll definitely post it when it’s available.

  4. Eli Matar - 10 years ago

    Hey Ben,
    Were Beats ever a good choice for high quality sound? I tried buying them a couple of times I think, and other than the incredibly high bass, they were really normal. Even a little uncomfortable for getting too warm, specially at the gym.
    In the On-Ear Headphones market, are Beats really the benchmark for the high quality sound?
    Isn’t it supposed to be Sennheiser or Bang & Olufsen?

    • Ben Lovejoy - 10 years ago

      Personally, apart from Beats Solo (which are ok), I think the Beats sound is horrible. Just in case I was letting my prejudice get in the way, I was actually in an Apple Store today listening to all of them, and they were as bad as I remembered. I’m a B&O/B+W fan myself. But mostly I’m grateful I’m not a true audiophile – I have a couple of friends who are and they spend more on hifi than I spend on a car …

    • Dan Rucker - 10 years ago

      Beats are way above many brands of headphones and one of the most popular. Yes there are better brands out there but don’t deliver on the style aspect. Plus everything comes with a price. Apple is keeping the brand separate for a reason. I don’t even see them putting Beats in the box. I see them possibly taking the EarPods out completely and having you purchase them separate.

      • Eli Matar - 10 years ago

        Hey Dan,
        They are popular, I know. But windows was/is popular too. About the style thing, in my opinion, its not a car, clothes, jewelry, smartphone etc… where you look at the product most of the day.
        Headphones are something you put on your ears and you cannot see.
        If they are too heavy or too warm you feel them.
        The same goes for if the sound is too “bassy”.
        Dont you think Dan?

  5. Arnold Ziffel - 10 years ago

    EarPods are comfortable and produce sound that is beyond what I’d expect from things so small. Of course, they can’t compare favorably to much larger over-the-ear headphones.

  6. drtyrell969 - 10 years ago

    Can’t wait for everyone to be wearing headphones again. We can all go see Carwash together!

  7. rekalal - 10 years ago

    Most of u guys are forgetting that athletes and celebrity wear Beats. People put premium on brand and having the swag effect, most people buy things to make themselves feel good and Beats brings that.

Author

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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