'Industry Scuttlebutt' Hints Apple May Be Planning February Revamp for Beats Music
Apple might be planning to unveil both its revamped music subscription service and its new branding alongside the upcoming 2015 Grammy Awards, reports Re/code, citing some "industry scuttlebutt."
When will Apple show off the new version of its subscription service and its new brand? Here's a guess backed up by some industry scuttlebutt: February -- presumably timed to the Grammy Awards, which will be held Feb. 8.
News of an upcoming rebrand first surfaced yesterday, after TechCrunch reported that Apple would be shutting down Beats Music. An Apple representative quickly refuted the claim saying it was "not true." Re/code went on to suggest that while Apple won't be shuttering Beats Music, the company may have plans to "modify it over time," changing the brand name.
Apple first acquired Beats Music back in May, and at the time, announced plans to leave the service untouched. There were no plans to integrate Beats Music into iTunes, with the company suggesting the streaming music service would remain as a standalone product. Beats Music was largely seen as Apple's answer to popular services like Spotify, aimed at improving declining music sales.
In recent weeks, Apple has made quite an effort to promote Beats Music, adding it to the list of "Apps Made by Apple" and recommending the app to new iOS users. Apple also added a Beats Music channel to the Apple TV last week alongside the release of iOS 8.
Thus far, there is no word on what Apple is planning for Beats Music, but a source at TechCrunch has suggested that Apple might roll the streaming music functionality into iTunes.
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