Beats Music

109 'Beats Music' stories October 2013 - August 2014

Apple promoting iTunes Festival contest within Beats Music in push for new users

Zac Hall Aug 26 2014 - 10:21 am PT

Beats Music iTunes Festival

In addition to updating the iTunes Festival lineup with new acts including Ed Sheeran and deadmau5 and reviving the Apple TV channel for viewing the concert on-demand and live, Apple’s recently acquired Beats Music is now promoting the iTunes Festival with a contest to attend the music festival in London. While tickets to Apple’s annual music event are free for attendees (and very limited), the contest by Beats Music to attend the iTunes Festival covers airfare both to and from London.

The promotion of the iTunes Festival in London by Beats Music, which requires users to download and sign up for the Beats Music service, is the latest in series of moves by Apple to promote Beats since Beats Electronics and Beats Music officially joined Apple earlier this month.

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Apple pushing Beats Music app via email to iTunes customers

Mark Gurman Aug 24 2014 - 5:36 pm PT

4 Comments

Apple has begun pushing the Beats Music streaming service via email to iTunes customers. The emails promote the free-to-download Beats Music app’s “Just For You” and “Tune Your Taste” features and note that Beats is now “part of the Apple family.” Apple finalized its acquisition of both Beats Music and Beats Electronics at the beginning of this month, and Apple has already begun promoting Beats Electronics via a new section on the online store and notable discounts. This email push is the second Apple promotion of the streaming app as the company has already integrated the app into the App Store’s “Apps by Apple” category. Full email below:

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Apple cuts prices of all Beats by Dre products by 10% through Aug. 23rd

Mark Gurman Aug 17 2014 - 2:40 pm PT

9 Comments

Update (8/19 9:15am): This sale is also live at Amazon and Best Buy.

A couple weeks following the closing of Apple’s acquisition of Beats Electronics and the Beats Music streaming service, Apple has cut the price of all Beats by Dr. Dre products by 10% in both its physical retail stores and official online store…

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Apple adds Beats Music to “Apps Made by Apple” list following addition to App Store prompt

Zac Hall Aug 15 2014 - 12:04 pm PT

6 Comments

Beats Music Apple App Store

Earlier this week we reported that Apple had added Beats Music to its Apple Apps prompt for customers opening the App Store for the first time following its $3 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics and Beats Music.
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Beats Music releases 25th anniversary documentary on Spike Lee’s ‘Do The Right Thing’

Mike Beasley Aug 14 2014 - 3:57 pm PT

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Apple-owned Beats Music has released a 22-minute documentary to mark the 25th anniversary of Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing, which was released in theaters on June 30th, 1989. In the documentary, Lee is joined by members of the cast and crew to revisit the Brooklyn neighborhood where the movie was filmed.

The documentary also includes footage from a star-studded block party thrown by Beats to celebrate the anniversary of the movie’s theatrical debut.

Like its new parent company Apple, Beats continues to position itself as more than a company making a product, but a cultural icon that has an impact on the world around it. You can watch the full documentary below:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1jeyhgUt4c]

Apple prominently advertising Beats Music to new iOS device users

Benjamin Mayo Aug 12 2014 - 7:00 am PT

4 Comments

Apple has prominently featured its own suite of free apps when iOS users first open the App Store, such as its iLife and iWork apps, for a while. Now that Beats Music and Beats Electronics are officially part of the family, the Beats Music app is now appearing on this ‘Apple Apps’ list as well. Beats Music is currently the last entry in the list, described as a way to ‘listen to music that’s always right for you’.

Tapping ‘Download All’ will install Beats Music alongside Apple’s other apps. Naturally, one way for Apple to significantly increase adoption of the service is to advertise it to every new iOS user.

The view will show up for new iOS devices or by performing a clean restore to a version of iOS 7, on both iPhone and iPad.

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Apple formally takes ownership of 13 percent of Beats from Vivendi/Universal Music Group

Ben Lovejoy Aug 1 2014 - 6:29 am PT

2 Comments

beats

Apple’s $3B acquisition of Beats was never going to be completed overnight, and it’s only today that Apple actually completed its purchase of the 13 percent of the company that was owned by Vivendi/Universal Music Group, the world’s largest record label.

In a one-sentence press release, Vivendi announced that the sale of its shares had been completed for a total of $404M. It was expected that Apple would have acquired all of the Beats shares by the end of September, but based on the formal welcome message, it appears this may complete the sale.

While Wall Street may have been unimpressed by the acquisition, Tim Cook described it as an exciting new chapter in Apple’s history, and Eddy Cue said that the deal would help music grow again.

Apple is in the process of determining which Beats staff will join Apple, and which positions will be eliminated.

Beats Music iOS app updated w/ customizable recommendations, Sentence history, verified badges, more

Jordan Kahn Jul 28 2014 - 11:37 am PT

5 Comments

Screen Shot 2014-07-28 at 2.36.38 PM Just as news hit this morning that the European Commission approved Apple’s acquisition of Beats, the Beats Music iOS app just received an update with a number of notable new features.
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Spotify CEO: Apple becoming a lifestyle company in all verticals, Beats deal not primarily for streaming service

Zac Hall Jul 21 2014 - 8:28 am PT

7 Comments

apple-beats-music-1100x1100

In the weeks between the Apple-Beats acquisition first being reported as being in final talks and the two companies both officially announcing the deal, Billboard interviewed Daniel Ek, the CEO and co-founder of the streaming music giant Spotify, asking about his take on Apple becoming a subscription streaming music competitor through Beats Music.

At the time, Ek was reserved in saying too much about the proposition. “I don’t like speculating about things that haven’t happened,” Ek stated. He did, however, say that he always believed Apple would enter the streaming music space and doubled down saying Spotify is focused on “building the best possible product” while noting the service’s 40 million users with 10 million paid customers.

The Spotify CEO was interviewed last week at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference and once again asked about the Apple-Beats deal, this time with the acquisition being official:
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Decline of music downloads continues as on-demand streaming audio up 50 percent

Ben Lovejoy Jul 4 2014 - 4:18 am PT

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beats

Apple’s presumed plans for an on-demand music service as part of its Beats acquisition is looking increasingly well-timed as Nielsen data shows that U.S. on-demand music consumption climbed 50.1 percent year-on-year, while music downloads fell by 12 percent in the same timeframe.

“With On-Demand streams surpassing 70 billion songs in the first six months of 2014, streaming continues to be an increasingly significant portion of the music industry,” says David Bakula, SVP Nielsen Entertainment …

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How-to: Unofficial tool allows you to import iTunes and Rdio Playlists to Beats Music

Mark Gurman Jun 13 2014 - 12:00 pm PT

11 Comments

While Beats Music will soon be owned by Apple, the music service does not easily integrate with iTunes. For instance, there is no official Beats tool to link your iTunes library for streaming from Beats Music. However, an unofficial tool called Beats Importer is a temporary solution that seems to work well for adding iTunes and Rdio Playlists to your Beats Music library. We’ve compiled a tutorial for importing your iTunes Playlists to Beats Music, below:

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9to5Toys Last Call: 2-pack Belkin WeMo Light Switches $70, SanDisk 128GB microSD $100, OtterBox Armor Series $5, more

Jun 13 2014 - 9:33 am PT

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Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call updates:

Otterbox Armor case for iPhone 5: $5 shipped (95% off)
2 Pack: Belkin WeMo Light Switch: $70 (Reg. $90), WeMo Switch and Surge Protector Bundle: $25 AR (Reg. $90)
E3 Pre-order guide: Destiny PS4 bundle, PlayStation TV, next gen GTA V, more
Fashion Deals: Brooks Brothers 30% off, Ray-Ban Wayfarers or Aviators $70, TOMS 15% off, more

Put 128GB of fast SanDisk MicroSD storage in your Android Phone, Camera or Mac for $100 http://t.co/syrQL1CeEc pic.twitter.com/EIvwjbS7mj

— 9to5Toys (@9to5toys) June 13, 2014

harman-kardon-headphones Headphones:

Harman Kardon CL Precision On-Ear Headphones $65 shipped (orig. $199)
SoundBot Sapphire Bluetooth Headset + 3000 maH powerbank $20 (Reg. $100)

The Amazing Spider-Man 2-iOS-sale-06

Games/Apps: Amazing Spider-Man 2 for iOS $1 (Reg. $5), Flick Kick Football FREE, more

roku-3-streaming-media-player

Roku 3 1080p streaming media player w/ private listening mode $80 Shipped (Reg. $100)

starbucks-groupon-deal

Starbucks eGift card: $10 for $5

Apple deals:

$80 iTunes gift card for $65: save nearly 20% on future app, music, movie purchases
iPad Air $400 shipped (Reg. $499),
iPad mini at Target and Best Buy Stores $199 (Reg. $299)
Free $100 gift card w/ iPad (4th generation) purchase at Walmart stores
Apple iPad 4th gen. 128GB WiFi + 4G $529.99 (orig. $899)
Apple 11.6-inch MacBook Air (newest model) 1.4GHz/4GB/128GB $800 shipped (Reg. $900)

More media: Alien Anthology & Prometheus $20 (Reg. $80), tons of $3 DVDs, A Bug’s Life $13… http://t.co/9gaASqCEPe pic.twitter.com/sKgfCR6W5Q

— 9to5Toys (@9to5toys) June 13, 2014

Other new deals:

New! Western Digital Red 3TB NAS optimized 3.5″ hard drive $105 shipped (Reg. $140)
New! Seagate 2.5-inch 1TB solid state hybrid drive: $75 shipped (Reg. $150)
New! Philips Fidelio Premium Bluetooth Portable Speaker: $120 shipped (Reg. $150)
New! Save 25% on Beats Music gift cards, get 1-yr of service for $75 or less
New! Daily Deals: Fuji 14MP Camera Bundle: $50, Pyle Bluetooth Health Scale: $38, more

Neato XV-12 Robotic Vacuum w/ free pet filters $199 shipped (Reg. $299+) http://t.co/IbElvyKpOY pic.twitter.com/eDRyBcJvLj

— 9to5Toys (@9to5toys) June 13, 2014

More deals still alive:

Seiki 50″ 4K UHDTV 120Hz LED w/ Free BT Soundbar $590 (Reg. $1200)
Lumsing 11000mAh 5 x USB External Battery Pack/Charger: $20 shipped (orig. $89)
Samsung 840 EVO 2.5″ 1TB Solid State Drive $430 shipped (orig. $850)
Home Deals: Dyson vacs (refurb) $199, up to 50% off Panasonic electric shavers, more
PNY Turbo Plus USB 3.0 flash drives (2-pack) $80 shipped (Reg. $125)
Weight Gurus Smartphone-Connected Digital Bathroom Scale $24 shipped (Reg. $40)
Macphun’s Creative Kit+: SnapHeal Pro, Intensify, Focus Pro, more $99 ($260 value)
Certified Refurbished Samsung Galaxy Gear Smart Watch $90 shipped (Reg. $300)
Media: dozens of Blu-ray movies $5 each, iTunes HD movie bundles $15, more
Father’s Day roundup: free $10 Amazon credit, Samsung 60″ HDTV $680, more
Spotify offers new customers 3 months of Premium streaming for the price of one
Goal Zero Yeti 150 Solar Generator + Boulder 15M Solar Panel: $200 shipped (Reg. $290+)
Headphones: Audio Technica over-ears (refurb) $35 shipped (Reg. $120), more
$100 StubHub gift card for $90 shipped (10% savings)
Get MLB.TV for the rest of the 2014 baseball season for just $50 (orig. $130)
Dropcam wireless video monitoring camera w/ iOS app $130 shipped (Reg. $150)
Toshiba Canvio 5TB Desktop HDD: $175 shipped (Reg. $210)
Seiki 39” Class 4K Ultra HD 120Hz LED TV $390 shipped (Reg. $700)
Jabra Solemate Mini Bluetooth speaker $70 shipped (Reg. $100)
Verizon FIOS Triple Play + $300 Visa Gift Card + LG G Pad Tablet: $79.99/mo

New products/ongoing promotions:

New Best Buy .edu deals crush Apple’s iPad student pricing
Deus Ex: The Fall goes FREE on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch (Reg. $7)
Amazon promos: get $15 Instant Video credit w/ Fire TV, $5 off orders of $25, more
Get eight top country music songs from iTunes for free
Logitech unveils its new $70 mini X300 wireless Bluetooth speaker
Become an Adorama VIP for FREE ($149 Value)
Take $150 off early 2014 MacBook Airs (requires .edu email), deals from $750 (up to 17% off)

Microsoft/Google/Android:

Asus Google Nexus 7 (2nd gen) 16GB $149 shipped (Reg. $229)
AT&T offering $50 Google Play credit with purchase of an Android device
Kindle Deals: Fire HDX 16GB WiFi $199 shipped (Reg. $229), Paperwhite $100, 20% off accessories, more

Discounted Beats Music gift cards yield 25% off subscription fees, 1 year for $75 or less

Jun 13 2014 - 7:25 am PT

3 Comments

From 9to5Toys.com

beats-music If Apple’s Beats acquisition prompted you to fire up a free trial of the music service then its probably just about to run out. Luckily, Target is running a promotion on Beats Music gift cards, which you can leverage to sign up for the service at a discounted rate.

For a limited time, you can get 25% off Beats Music $50 and $25 gift cards (and REDcard holders save an additional 5%). Standard Beats Music prices recently dropped to $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year. That means you can get a year of Beats for just $75 if you buy two $50 gift cards and $70 if you use a Target Red Card. This is the first general discount we’ve seen for Beats Music. Please note that these cards cannot be combined with any other subscription offers.

Listen to over 20 million songs on your iPhone, iPad, Sonos speakers, Android devices, and more. Beats Music has quickly become a favorite streaming service amongst music lovers.

Since Apple announced its planned acquisition of Beats, it has pledged its devotion to the Beats Music service. The Android app was just updated this week with several features including the ability to save offline downloads to an external SD card

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qfdzjmPDr8]

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WSJ profile describes obsessive Dr. Dre as ‘cultural barometer of what is cool’ like Apple founder Steve Jobs

Zac Hall Jun 6 2014 - 12:37 pm PT

9 Comments

Iovine Cook Dr Dre Cue Beats

In a profile of one of Apple’s newest employees, The Wall Street Journal has described hip-hop artist Dr. Dre of Beats Electronics as obsessive in a Steve Jobs kind of way while maintaining a clear instinct for what customers want without relying on market research.

But behind the scenes, Dr. Dre—whose real name is Andre Young —has quietly played an equally powerful role developing and protecting the Beats brand, eschewing market research for gut instinct at every turn. Though his main obsession is perfecting the sound of the company’s signature high-end headphones, the 49-year-old fitness-obsessed music producer weighs in decisively on everything from TV ads and font styles to the wordiness of descriptions on the Beats Music streaming service.

As one colleague says, Dr. Dre serves as Beats’ “cultural barometer” of what is cool.

But Dr. Dre’s process is mysterious, colleagues say: His assessments are usually immediate, personal and articulated sparely. He often dismisses ideas such as posing for clichéd photos in a recording studio as too “corny” or “cheesy.” Or he’ll wave them off with a terse “I’m not feeling that.”

[…]

That could portend friction at his new employer, Apple, which agreed to buy Beats for $3 billion last month. But like Dr. Dre, Apple has also boasted about not doing market research. The company’s late founder, Steve Jobs, made no secret of his belief that consumers don’t really know what they want until someone else shows it to them. Colleagues predict that at Apple Dr. Dre could also cede some decision-making power and become more accommodating.

Dr. Dre has resisted much of the limelight since the Beats acquisition by Apple was announced leaving many of the interviews and spin to his Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine and Apple’s Eddy Cue. The WSJ noted he declined to be interviewed for the above profile, and that decided exclusivity, too, is reminiscent of Jobs.

Dr. Dre did participate in a WWDC demo earlier this week, though, accepting a phone call from Apple’s SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi. Even that bit has parallels with the Steve Jobs days at Apple as Dr. Dre previously cameoed in a demo with the Apple founder.

Is Beats CCO Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails going to be an Apple employee?

Jordan Kahn Jun 2 2014 - 5:24 am PT

13 Comments

Beats_Trent_Jimmy

Update: A spokesperson for Beats Music confirmed to us that “Trent Reznor is still with Beats Music.”

Jimmy Iovine has long credited Nine Inch Nails frontman and Beats Music Chief Creative Officer Trent Reznor as a driving force behind the success of the service. Reznor, however, is now rumored to have left the company as it finalizes its $3B sell to Apple. The news comes from a line in a USA Today report over the weekend that curiously doesn’t mention a source of the information:

(Curiously, Beats’ chief creative officer, Trent Reznor, the singer-songwriter and producer of Nine Inch Nails fame responsible for Beats’ tastemaking, has reportedly left the company. Also, one of Beats’ principal technology executives, Fredric Vinna, has recently gone to Spotify, and its co-founder, Ola Sars, to a Spotify-backed venture.)

Beats Music didn’t respond to a request for comment on this story, but Billboard reports that a spokesperson for Beats and for Reznor claim the report is inaccurate:
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Wall Street unimpressed by Beats acquisition: “Not what we want to see”

Ben Lovejoy May 29 2014 - 4:42 am PT

63 Comments

Wall Street

Judging by a roundup in The Wall Street Journal, analysts and investors appear not to share the enthusiasm for Beats acquisition express by Tim Cook and Eddy Cue. While Cook said he was “excited […] about this new chapter in our history” and Cue believed that “combining the two companies will help [music] grow again,” Wall Street is more skeptical.

“To see this kind of money spent for a company that gets most of its revenue from hardware business is not what we want to see,” said Dan Niles, chief investment officer of hedge fund AlphaOne Capital Partners …

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

Ben Lovejoy May 29 2014 - 4:16 am PT

20 Comments

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” …

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Eddy Cue: Apple passed 35 billions songs sold on iTunes last week, 40 million iTunes Radio listeners

Jordan Kahn May 28 2014 - 8:35 pm PT

3 Comments

Live from the Eddy Cue and Jimmy Iovine interview at the Code Conference, Cue is sharing some of the latest stats for iTunes and other services and noted that Apple just crossed 35 billion songs sold this past week. That’s up from the 25 billion songs purchased and downloaded that Apple announced in February of last year. Cue said sold, but we’re assuming that 35 billion number includes both purchases and downloads like Apple’s stat did in its press release last year.

Cue also noted that iTunes has around 800 million customers total and around 40 million iTunes Radio listeners in the U.S. and Australia with a lot of growth coming internationally. Iovine also shared some stats confirming previous reports that Beats Music is now at around 250,000 subscribers from a total of 5 million downloads. Iovine claimed conversions from downloads to paid customers would have been a lot higher if Beats Music was using Apple’s in-app purchase mechanism.

Tune into our live blog of the interview happening now for the latest.

Apple brings ESPN and 42 local NPR stations to iTunes Radio

Mike Beasley May 28 2014 - 2:43 pm PT

5 Comments

Hot on the heels of the announcement that Apple had acquired the Beats Music streaming service for $3 billion to help bolster its own struggling competitor, 9to5Mac has learned that Apple is introducing a new ESPN station for iTunes Radio. The station will include original ESPN programs like SportsCenter All Night, SVP and Russillo, The Herd, and Mike & Mike.

The ESPN station will also stream the World Cup, making it the first live sporting event to be streamed live through iTunes Radio.

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Beats Music iOS app drops yearly pricing to $99, extends free trial as Apple confirms deal

Jordan Kahn May 28 2014 - 1:37 pm PT

9 Comments

Beats-iOS-app

Right as news is breaking that the Apple and Beats deal is finally official for $3B, the Beats iOS app has just been updated with new pricing and an extended free trial for all users.

Up from the previous free 7-day trial offered by the service, Beats Music now offers a “no strings attached trial” for 14 days to all users. Most notable in the update, however, is the fact that the service is slashing pricing from $119.88 a year to $99.99/year:

We’ve dropped price of our yearly subscription to $99.99, down from $119.88.

The service will continue to charge $9.99/month for users not purchasing a yearly subscription. The Beats Music website FAQ has been updated to reflect the new pricing and also continues to list $15/month family plans and extended free trials offered to AT&T customers.

Apple also confirmed today that it will continue to operate Beats Music as a separate service including Android and Windows phone apps.

Version 2.1.0 also includes “tons of bug fixes so the whole experience runs smooth as silk.”

What’s New in Version 2.1.0

● We’re stoked to announce that our no strings attached trial has been extended to 14 days to ensure everyone gets ample time to explore the full Beats Music experience.

● We’ve dropped price of our yearly subscription to $99.99, down from $119.88.

● To top it off, we pushed tons of bug fixes so the whole experience runs smooth as silk.

Declining iTunes sales underline need for Apple to launch a subscription music service

Ben Lovejoy May 28 2014 - 6:36 am PT

16 Comments

itunes

Declining iTunes sales highlighted by Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty and reported by Fortune appear to underline the need for Apple to move beyond sales of music downloads and into the subscription music business. iTunes sales are down 24 percent year-on-year.

While the slack is being picked up by app sales – a trend previously noted by Asymco’s Horace Dediu – that falling blue line reflects the wider shift in consumer behaviour from purchasing downloads to subscribing to streaming services noted last year by Billboard magazine …
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Spotify CEO: I’ve always assumed Apple would offer a streaming service

Zac Hall May 21 2014 - 6:53 pm PT

16 Comments

If Apple does indeed reach a deal to acquire Beats Electronics and announce it this week as expected, the clock is once again counting down to offer up your take on the whole scenario before it’s actually official. Steve Jobs’ biographer Walter Isaacson got that opportunity earlier this week thanks in part to Dan Lyons of Fake Steve Jobs fame; Isaacson told Lyons he believes the expected $3.2 billion acquisition by Apple is all about creating a world class video service led by Beats’ co-founder Jimmy Iovine.

But when you think about Beats and what the company has to offer for Apple, the subscription music service launched by the company in January earlier this year comes to mind. Spotify, of course, dominates in this space as seen by the company’s announcement today that they now have 10 million paid subscribers and 40 million active users.
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Jobs’ biographer believes Beats purchase is about video, not headphones and music

Zac Hall May 19 2014 - 2:09 pm PT

22 Comments

Walter-Isaacson_2

With the expected Beats Electronics acquisition by Apple expected to take a week longer than first reported, industry watchers are making their last minute predictions as to why Apple would be interested in the audio and music service company.

The latest notable guess? Walter Isaacson, the man who literally wrote the book on Steve Jobs. Dan Lyons, former Fake Steve Jobs, reporting for Billboard:

“Isaacson thinks the Apple-Beats deal is not about headphones or streaming music but rather is about video. He speculates that Cook wants Iovine to run Apple’s content business and help Apple launch the TV product that analysts have been gossiping about for years. The product has been held up because Apple can’t get all the content owners on board.”

Lyons adds that Isaacson shared with him something which he did not include in the authorized biography of the late Apple co-founder: Jobs was pitched on Apple buying Universal by Jimmy Iovine around 2002 or 2003…
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MOG founder and former Beats Music CEO suing Beats for $20 million ahead of expected Apple buy

Zac Hall May 16 2014 - 8:54 am PT

4 Comments

Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine And Luke Wood Launch The Beats By Dr. Dre Pill At The Beats Store In Soho, NY

Luke Wood, Jimmy Iovine, & Dr. Dre

Just as Apple is expected to close on a deal with Beats Electronics as soon as next week, a new report from The Wrap shares that David Hyman, the founder of music service MOG which Beats purchased, is suing the headphones and streaming music company for at least $20 million plus interest.

The suit claims that, under an incentive plan adopted during Hyman’s tenure, he would be entitled to compensation including 2.5 percent of the company’s “currently outstanding equity interests,” with 1 percent due on the first anniversary of Hyman’s date of employment, and subsequent installments due in subsequent months. The suit also claims that he was promised a grant of 25 percent of the company’s outstanding equity interests following adoption of the incentive plan if the company achieved a fair market value of $500 million or more.

Hyman served as founder and CEO of the MOG music service for seven years until Beats Electronics purchased it for $14 million in May 2012. Hyman stayed on to head the music service that is now Beats Music where he served as CEO for just seven months.

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