Apple's Acquisition of Beats Met with Skepticism, but Jimmy Iovine May Be Key

[IJ Reilly]

Please guys stop the Friday morning CEOing!


Take a look at Jimmie Iovine's Wikipedia page, he is the Chairman and co-founder or Interscope Records and Chairman of Interscope Geffen A & M which is part of the Universal Music Group which is the largest music corporation in the World . Also scroll down to the complete Iovine discography.

I think this is it. This deal (assuming it happens) is Apple admitting that their influence in the music business has waned since the passing of Steve. They need to bring someone on board to give them an edge, and that person is Iovine. If it's true that Beats' revenue is over $1B annually, then this is probably a better investment of $3B than having it gathering dust in short-term investments.

 

[CEmajr]

Dr Dre just bragged at becoming the first billionaire in Hip-Hop. Looks like it's pretty much a done deal.

 

[bytethese]

The article mentions no intellectual property worth purchasing? Aren't there PC's with "Audio by Beats" built into them? Can Apple now cut that off and make it exclusive for their Macbook Pros? Also maybe they can finally offer included headphones with the iPhone that are worth a poop?

 

[Mark Booth]

I haven't tried Beats music service but I have tried iTunes Radio and, frankly, it sucks. I tried REALLY hard to like iTunes Radio but it only took about 3 months before I gave up completely and went back to paying $4/month for Pandora One. MUCH better!

The biggest problem with iTunes Radio is that it plays a bunch of songs I know and want to hear, BUT, with many performed by artists I've never heard of and/or don't care to hear. I'm not the least bit interested in Creedence Clearwater Revival's interpretation of 'I Heard it through the Grapevine'! Either play Marvin Gaye's version, or don't bother.

If I choose a particular station in Pandora, 99% of the songs are what I'd like to hear. With iTunes Radio, it's 50% at best.

So, for gosh sakes, PLEASE buy a company that can show you how to do it right.

Mark

 

[IJ Reilly]

That makes no sense

It makes sense if you believe that Apple's competitors might have been sniffing around to buy Beats.

 

[timtempest]

iTunes a mess

I can understand apple wanting to improve iTunes for music. There is only so much back catalogue rock albums that can be sold after all.
iTunes is just one big folder of music with everything thrown in it, mostly by majors and no meaningful way to find or be offered other tracks you may be interested in.
A visit to almost any other online music store offers vastly a vastly superior service. Juno is my preference. I like aiff files as the work nice in Traktor, I can see what others mix with a track i like, what others have purchased, what the audio file looks like, what else is on that label, what DJ has played it and what else they are playing.
I happily spend hours digging for tracks, or listening to suggestions. This is what Beats seem to realise and appreciate.
I'm sure I'm not the only guy that used to work in a record store grinning at the realization that yes, you did actually need people like us to help with your music choices didn't you.
I'd sign up to apple for just $2bn by the way.

Tim

 

[hashholly]

Im giving Apple the benefit of the doubt on this one....i can't see them spending 3 billion dollars on a company that is not worth anywhere near that for nothing.

Have a little faith.

 

[cheesyappleuser]

I'm not really getting the point of this deal either, but it has to be done for a reason.
Obviously not the streaming service or the headphones, that are tacky and too expensive.
It really has to be something else, so only time will tell.

 

[wilhoitm]

So? Apple can outright buy many labels for less than 3.2B. No one man is worth that much.

Apple doesn't want to get into the Music label business, it can be a real headache dealing with a bunch of drugged up artists that crave an infinite amount of attention and have Mommy and Daddy issues!

Apple can probably make more money by improving the technology and also putting an Apple on those headphones, Beats currently controls 40% of the headphone market and they are also really big in the Hip Hop community. But again guys this deal is not about those stupid headphones!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Iovine

 

[Crosscreek]

I'm glad that Apple found a record producer to finally straighten them out.

Sort of like a used car salesman.

 

[Locoboof]

Please guys stop the Friday morning CEOing!


Take a look at Jimmie Iovine's Wikipedia page, he is the Chairman and co-founder or Interscope Records and Chairman of Interscope Geffen A & M which is part of the Universal Music Group which is the largest music corporation in the World . Also scroll down to the complete Iovine discography.

What he said....

Also,I'll take a pair of beats earbuds packaged with my iPhone 6 instead of the EarPods any day.

 

[JHankwitz]

OMG, I hope not. What I want is to pay a monthly or annual fee to play my iTunes stations 24/7 without any advertising. I already get way too much advertising

You already can, with iTunes Match.

Sure, but only for 2 hours at a time, then you need to manually restart it. 2
+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2... is not the same as 24/7. It's worth $$$ to me to not have to keep running to my iMac in my basement office to start it up again and again.

 

[SusanK]

Wow, Steve Jobs would have never let this happen.

No, Steve wouldn't.

Steve knew how to deliver amazing products.

Steve didn't need to throw our money at anything that walked by in an attempt to keep his day job. The job we paid him $1 per year and coverage in the employee health plan.

 

[jrswizzle]

Lol....it's like the reaction to the 1st round of the NFL Draft last night....people making HUGE assumptions based on very little information.

-The HTC One (with Beats Audio - whatever that means) sounded killer. Those Boomsound speakers were awesome. I'd love something like that in the iPhone or iPad.

-This isn't about headphones.....for the umpteenth time.

-iTunes Radio ISN'T wildly successful. And while Beats Music isn't either, merging the two or promoting Beats might be more successful for Apple.

-Apple's music business is sinking. Iovine could be a key to resurrecting it.

While $3.2 billion isn't anything to sneeze at, its approximately 2% of Apple's CASH reserve. Meaning this isn't a MASSIVE acquisition for them. Apple isn't in the habit of acquiring companies on a whim, there must be a reason. And until we know what that is, will you all please....CUT THE CRAP.

 

[Locoboof]

Really why should a company worth billions of dollars acquire another company before consulting MR forum posters first?

Well said my friend...well said.

 

[NateTheVape420]

The Hate is High

Beats by Dre doesn't grab 51% of the headphone market by making bad products. They are the best headphones design wise and quality wise PERIOD. Everyone on here that has something negative to say about this deal is really mad at the fact that there giving a blk guy a billion dollars and that a blk guy is making the best headphones on the market. Beats by Dre came in and changed the headphone game forever the same way apple did with the Iphone. This is a great acquisition and a tremendous deal for both Apple and Beats and just goes to show why apple will be the number one company to ever exist in the near future. (the world is changing folks get rid of the hate from your heart it will only lead to hate in the world)

 

[abshole765]

Sure, but only for 2 hours at a time, then you need to manually restart it. 2
+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2... is not the same as 24/7. It's worth $$$ to me to not have to keep running to my iMac in my basement office to start it up again and again.

Buy the Plex app and have all of your music and videos at your disposable.

No annual fee.




On topic, iTunes radio is still going to be garbage.

 

[Millah]

You can hate on Beats all you want, but the fact is, the brand got the young mainstream consumer to give a damn about audio again. I don't care how audio snobs want to tear down the actual quality of audio in Beats headphones, but they got audio to be "cool," and the sound profile in Beats caters to the current young market, which likes to have more lows than a balanced sound.

 

[jrswizzle]

Apple doesn't want to get into the Music label business, it can be a real headache dealing with a bunch of drugged up artists that crave an infinite amount of attention and have Mommy and Daddy issues!

Apple can probably make more money by improving the technology and also putting an Apple on those headphones, Beats currently controls 40% of the headphone market and they are also really big in the Hip Hop community. But again guys this deal is not about those stupid headphones!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Iovine

Beats owns 59% of the "above $99" market as well.....despite what people here think about them, they brought in $1 billion last year and are fairly dominant marketshare-wise.

 

[Zerilos]

I'm not saying Apple is making the right decision, but the fact that Munster doesn't like it is a good sign. He is consistently wrong with his predictions about Apple.

 

[Benjamins]

You can hate on Beats all you want, but the fact is, the brand got the young mainstream consumer to give a damn about audio again. I don't care how audio snobs want to tear down the actual quality of audio in Beats headphones, but they got audio to be "cool," and the sound profile in Beats caters to the current young market, which likes to have more lows than a balanced sound.

3 billion for an equalizer profile? really.

 

[BaldiMac]

My bet, if the rumor is true, is that this is more like a straightforward investment in Beats. Beats will continue to operate as a separate brand, but ownership by Apple will allow them to work together. More iTunes and iOS integration.

 

[jrswizzle]

Beats by Dre doesn't grab 51% of the headphone market by making bad products. They are the best headphones design wise and quality wise PERIOD. Everyone on here that has something negative to say about this deal is really mad at the fact that there giving a blk guy a billion dollars and that a blk guy is making the best headphones on the market. Beats by Dre came in and changed the headphone game forever the same way apple did with the Iphone. This is a great acquisition and a tremendous deal for both Apple and Beats and just goes to show why apple will be the number one company to ever exist in the near future. (the world is changing folks get rid of the hate from your heart it will only lead to hate in the world)

Please....keep the race baiting out of this.

 

[TheGenerous]

I hope Apple does good for humanity and make vaporware out of those horrible and expensive headphones.

 

[BigHonkingDeal]

I haven't tried Beats music service but I have tried iTunes Radio and, frankly, it sucks. I tried REALLY hard to like iTunes Radio but it only took about 3 months before I gave up completely and went back to paying $4/month for Pandora One. MUCH better!

The biggest problem with iTunes Radio is that it plays a bunch of songs I know and want to hear, BUT, with many performed by artists I've never heard of and/or don't care to hear. I'm not the least bit interested in Creedence Clearwater Revival's interpretation of 'I Heard it through the Grapevine'! Either play Marvin Gaye's version, or don't bother.

If I choose a particular station in Pandora, 99% of the songs are what I'd like to hear. With iTunes Radio, it's 50% at best.

So, for gosh sakes, PLEASE buy a company that can show you how to do it right.

Mark

Yes, I completely agree with your statement.