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Apple's Acquisition of Beats Could Be Delayed Because of Valuation, Roles, and More

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Last week, reports indicated that Apple's acquisition of Beats would not be finalized until this week. With the week ending and no deal having been announced, a new Billboard report offers insight into what could be holding up the deal.

beatsdre.jpg
Billboard's sources indicate the deal "is complicated", as it would be Apple's largest acquisition. In addition, the news apparently leaked "too early", with Apple nowhere near ready for news to break despite publications like Re/code and The Financial Times reporting that the deal is close to completion.

A video that was uploaded to YouTube of actor/musician Tyrese alongside Beats co-founder Dr. Dre is another possible reason for the delay, with Dre claiming that he was the first billionaire in hip hop after the deal. The video apparently "freaked Apple out" and had the Cupertino company outraged.
Apparently, the Apple family near imploded with outrage when that video went up on Facebook of an 'excited' Dr. Dre with R&B singer/former Coca Cola pin-up Tyrese. In the video they share, in language perhaps unsuitable for a family blog, how Dre will be hip-hop's first billionaire and other nice things about Compton.
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Fourth, Apple allegedly isn't sure whether to give Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre roles as permanent consultants or whether to give them full-time executive roles. Apple is also apparently unsure whether the two of them would fit into the company's corporate climate, despite reports that Iovine and Dre are the "big prizes" of the acquisition.

Finally, another rumored sticking point is Apple's valuation of Beats Music, which has around 200,000 subscribers and has been speculated as one of the main reasons behind the acquisition. Apple is apparently planning to keep Beats Music separate entity from iTunes in order to avoid cannibalization of iTunes music sales.

Apple pundit John Gruber of Daring Fireball offered another scenario, discrediting the Billboard report and speculating that Beats may have leaked to the deal, angering Apple and scuttling the acquisition before it could be completed.

Article Link: Apple's Acquisition of Beats Could Be Delayed Because of Valuation, Roles, and More
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/05/23/beats-apple-delay/
I

irfan22

macrumors regular
Sep 10, 2009
117
16
I've read so many articles giving reasons why they are buying beats. It still doesn't make any sense to me.

Hopefully Apple's official statement/WWDC will give real insight, once the deal is finalized (but hopefully not).
 
F

fumi2014

macrumors 6502
May 21, 2014
352
1,516
California
The longer this goes own, the less likely it seems. I still cannot see what Apple gain out of this deal that they couldn't do by themselves. Is the 'expertise' of Dre and Iovine worth that much?
 
A

AnalyzeThis

macrumors 6502
Sep 8, 2007
443
1
This deal indeed looks very UNAPPLE. I never thought, the people behind iTunes success are so incapable to create the best streaming service on this planet. Just strange days we live in, really. Hell yes! it is extremely overpriced, based on rumors. It feels like Apple just stepped onto the dead-beat's poo.
 
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Quu

Quu

macrumors 68040
Apr 2, 2007
3,420
6,792
I didn't think that video Dre made would help the negotiations. It came off very smug and I'm sure Tim Cook didn't like it one bit.
 
joelvega125

joelvega125

macrumors regular
Jun 15, 2010
145
7
Here we go with this crap again..."It's so not Apple", "beats are overpriced pieces of crap", "Oh I'm such an audiophile I critique the lows mids and highs of my own farts and I'll tell you beats are garbage"....Give it a rest...Apple is buying Beats..get over it.
 
AngerDanger

AngerDanger

Graphics
Staff member
Dec 9, 2008
5,452
29,002
If anybody mistakenly ingested poison in the past few minutes and needs an emetic, I suggest giving the YouTube comments on the video in the article a browse.

Update: I've been informed that the video has the same effect.
 
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saggsy

saggsy

macrumors newbie
Jun 28, 2004
25
0
Australia
Read a fair bit about this potential acquisition but that was the first time I'd seen the Dre video.

If the deal wasn't sealed prior to him doing the YouTube video I think he's just shot him self in the foot with an AK.

Until the check is in the bank it's not your money - I thought he'd be a bit more business savvy than that, obviously not.

Apple does need to 'acquire' Jimmy Iovine. He is where it's at when it comes to taking the pragmatic approach to the way the music industry has been and is heading. Not to mention he has the cred in the industry and the smarts to make the negotiations.

I could see Iovine on the executive team as "iTunes Manager" or something along those lines.

Dre, I can't see being part of the Apple executive/corporate environment.

saggsy
 
T

TC03

macrumors 65816
Aug 17, 2008
1,272
356
Why don't they just acquire Spotify? Worth approximately 4 billion and has a big and fast growing client base.

They could then just offer Iovine an executive rol without buying Beats.
 
R

Ryth

macrumors 68000
Apr 21, 2011
1,591
157
saggsy said:
Read a fair bit about this potential acquisition but that was the first time I'd seen the Dre video.

If the deal wasn't sealed prior to him doing the YouTube video I think he's just shot him self in the foot with an AK.

Until the check is in the bank it's not your money - I thought he'd be a bit more business savvy than that, obviously not.

Apple does need to 'acquire' Jimmy Iovine. He is where it's at when it comes to taking the pragmatic approach to the way the music industry has been and is heading. Not to mention he has the cred in the industry and the smarts to make the negotiations.

I could see Iovine on the executive team as "iTunes Manager" or something along those lines.

Dre, I can't see being part of the Apple executive/corporate environment.

saggsy
Click to expand...

Can't take the hood out of a thug.

I hope Apple nixes the deal and then Dre gets his @$$ handed to him by the BEATS board and management.

Apple should just hire Iovine and just forget the rest of BEATS.
 
mrxak

mrxak

macrumors 68000
Apr 16, 2004
1,650
697
Drifting through space in a broken escape pod
Really, this is why Apple probably should stick to their usual strategy of buying up much smaller companies. It makes transitions so much easier.

I can certainly understand why Apple may have simply changed their minds, after the leak from (the frankly amateurs at) Beats, and all the negative press. I'm sure in any sort of negotiations there are NDAs, and if Apple can't trust their potential acquisitions to stay quiet during negotiation, how can Apple trust them to stay quiet once they're part of Apple?

I've personally never really understood why Apple would want to buy them, but I wasn't going to really say they shouldn't do it until after I saw the explanation for it from Apple itself. Apple does all sorts of things that don't make any sense until later. I was prepared to just trust Apple's decision making here, and wait to see how things turned out before judging. I've never understood why this was such the big story it's become, though. News has been slow out of Apple, since there's been virtually no leaks in quite some time, but even still. Is it just because there's a famous rapper involved?
 
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