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Report Claims Beats Acquisition to Bring "Culturally Aware" Managers to Apple, Manage Subscription Music Transition

Thursday May 22, 2014 2:38 pm PDT by Jordan Golson
jimmy-iovine-crop-324x285Bringing "culturally aware" managers to Apple is a big part of why Apple is interested in acquiring Beats, according to a new report from TechCrunch.

The piece claims that Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre are the big prizes at the company, and that it fits with Tim Cook's recent hiring of high-fashion managers like Angela Ahrendts from Burberry, wearable expert Ben Shaffer from Nike, and Paul Deneve from Yves St. Laurent.

Dre and Iovine have design and marketing savvy from Beats that could be significant for the company, which has struggled somewhat with its marketing efforts since Steve Jobs has passed away.
A well-placed source has confirmed rumors that Apple’s acquisition of Beats “is happening” but was close to falling apart multiple times. The source said with “70% certainty” that Apple’s planned multi-billion acquisition of headphone maker Beats will go through. But Apple isn’t buying Beats for the technology, they’re buying the talent.

“They want Jimmy and they want Dre,” said the source. “He’s got fashion and culture completely locked up.”
In a separate TechCrunch piece, a different reporter says Apple is looking to operate Beats as an external streaming music service to avoid cannibalizing its iTunes download business.

Reportedly, it's not that Apple is worried about losing its 30% cut of song downloads, but Apple launching a streaming music service could decimate the more than $1 billion that iTunes generates for record industry revenues.
Because it’s deeply conscious that pumps a lot of blood into the music industry. My source says iTunes execs started deeply considering streaming at least two years ago. They realized a sudden move for iTunes from downloads to streaming could lead to dark days for the record business, reducing musical inventory – and revenue – accordingly.
The piece argues that Apple may be looking to grow its streaming business on the side as iTunes music downloads drop, and that the company is looking to "bridge the download and cloud eras gracefully."

It says Apple executives are looking to strike a deal with record labels that would allow the company to sell a subscription music service for $5 per month, half of what Spotify charges, but with a higher cut of revenues.

Supposedly the acquisition will be announced soon, perhaps during Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote on June 2.

[ 309 comments ]


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johnnyturbouk
68 months ago
oh great, loving the way Tim Cooks is piloting Apple to some douche, image obsessed boutique! Damn it, just make magical products and most of us fanboys will be happy :mad:

PS cant wait for the Dr Dre Macbook, featuring the Snoop doggy keyboard - oh please kill me now!
Rating: 50 Votes
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needfx
68 months ago
you're acquiring it wrong?
Rating: 35 Votes
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losthorse
68 months ago
-- removed by user --
Rating: 32 Votes
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bungiefan89
68 months ago
Apparently, pushing a brand that emphasizes style over substance and getting endorsements from mainstream celebrities qualifies as "culturally aware."

God, this makes me sick. :mad:
Rating: 24 Votes
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apolloa
68 months ago
hahaha 'culturally aware' haha, it's like a parent trying to use the internet to be hip with their children hehe.

If there's ONE company that really doesn't need to be 'culturally aware' it's Apple! It's brand is so cool and hip with young people it's crazy.
Rating: 23 Votes
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Eduardo1971
68 months ago
Wow, that is a lot of money for (basically) two people.
Rating: 22 Votes
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stiligFox
68 months ago
I'm amazed the sheer amount of hate that's going on here.

But then again that's normal before anything big - the iPod was royally hated by MacRumors members when it came out, the whole internet thought that iPad was the stupidest name ever and it was "just a big iPod touch."

Something I've learned is that the more controversial an idea Apple has, the more likely it'll be a good decision :P
Rating: 20 Votes
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Rogifan
68 months ago

I am ashamed to be a part of a community that is so closed-minded and is filled with seemingly old white males whining about a dynamic world and culture. These are very smart moves by Apple, and believe it or not, I don't think they want to fade away into obscurity by not keeping up with the times.


Don't throw race into this.
Rating: 20 Votes
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chrisbru
68 months ago
I'd fall over laughing if at the start of the WWDC keynote the lights dimmed all the way and then we just hear...

"Caaaaaaaaalifornia looooove"

And then boom, Dre appears.
Rating: 19 Votes
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Rogifan
68 months ago
Ok I think just about vomited my dinner. So basically Apple is turning into a fashion company and using Beats to try and inject "cool" into the company, while also pandering to African-Americans and teenagers. #vomit
Rating: 18 Votes

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