Apple Reportedly Planning to Shut Down Beats Music [Update: Not True]

[2457282]

I’m sure rolling Beats’ technology, contracts, and subscribers into iTunes/Music.app was the plan from day one regardless of what they may have said at the time - you don't want people bailing off of the service because they think it is going away immediately.

Combine this rumor with the rumors regarding U2’s involvement with Apple around music formats (Iovine and U2 are like peas and carrots) and things start making sense.

This makes more sense to me. They are not killing Beats, but integrating it into iTunes and iTunes Radio. Plus uping their format to be more lossless (thought sounds like aweful english, but I think I said it correctly).

 

[Rogifan]

The Beats brand is associated with headphones period end of story. Most people probably don't even know Beats music services exists. They'll roll it into iTunes and that way they no longer have to support other platforms like Android.

 

[tkermit]

Please, no more free albums from U2. They should pay me to listen to that stuff. Life's too short for bad music. How about some free chamber music, Vivaldi, or Mozart. There's a thought, Apple could buy the LSO and give us some real music.

I get the feeling no one at Apple listens to classical music.

 

[coolfactor]

Apple's move was very Microsoft-esque: just buy out the rival, keep its best assets and drown everything else out of the market.

This is a rumour. You're speaking as if this has already happened.

 

[crsh1976]

This is a rumour. You're speaking as if this has already happened.

We're on a rumour site..

 

[scat999999]

They may have bought Beats just to get Iovine and Dre.

 

[street.cory]

I would be so p****d off if they did this.

 

[AgentElliot007]

This makes no sense... they JUST added a Beats Music app to Apple TV. Why bother if they're just going to shut it down?

Exactly.

I don't buy this at all, at least in the near term. I don't think there will be a Beats Music necessarily in 2-3 years, but right now, it's likely to stick around.

 

[coolfactor]

The Beats brand is associated with headphones period end of story. Most people probably don't even know Beats music services exists. They'll roll it into iTunes and that way they no longer have to support other platforms like Android.

I agree with this ^.

But I also think it would be cool for them to continue to serve the non-Apple platforms if there was a profit stream involved. Or maybe that would be edging too closely to "monopoly" territory?

 

[supermarkt]

This is a rumour. You're speaking as if this has already happened.

Its also stupid. Beats Music wasn't much of a rival. If they wanted to keep a rival out of the market, they would have acquired Spotify. Beats Music barely had any subscribers when they bought it.

 

[mactumors]

Prediction: Next year iTunes will be relaunched and rebranded as Beats Music. A single app just for music.

So sure, maybe they're not doing any more development on the current Beats app.

 

[saintforlife]

Didn't Tim Cook say more than one time that they bought Beats Music for its'personal curation' of music streams? Wonder what changed?

 

[Ping Guo]

I recon Apple will introduce their own equivalent, built into iTunes, and transfer existing accounts.

When you were doing the recon did you wear a prototype chameleon suit or crawl through a field of laser beams like Catherine Zeta Jones?

 

[coolfactor]

We're on a rumour site..

And you said "Apple's move WAS very ..." as if this has already happened. Am I misunderstanding you?

 

[crsh1976]

Its also stupid. Beats Music wasn't much of a rival. If they wanted to keep a rival out of the market, they would have acquired Spotify. Beats Music barely had any subscribers when they bought it.

Buy Beats out for its patents and/or to prevent a rival from acquiring those patents..

 

[winston1236]

The Beats brand is associated with headphones period end of story. Most people probably don't even know Beats music services exists. They'll roll it into iTunes and that way they no longer have to support other platforms like Android.

When did Apple start supporting Android?

 

[Peace]

If anybody didn't see this coming they need to read more.

 

[Populism]

Apple bought music streaming service LaLa in 2009, and shut it down a few months later, amid vain hopes it would be integrated into iTunes.

link

Now Apple buys Beats streaming service, and shuts it down a few months later.

Hmmm.

I want to believe the Beats shut-down is part of some streaming inclusion into iTunes, but if it were so, Apple would have gotten out in front of news of the terminations/reassignments and told the world as much. So, no, I'm not optimistic.

Maybe Apple will buy Spotify next, and then Pandora, and then iHeartRadio, and then anyone else who fancies a streaming service...

 

[ralphdaily]

I dropped Pandora and picked up Beats. I listen to Beats all the time. Love it. Really hate Apple's doing this.

 

[MarcoCapa]

Please, no more free albums from U2. They should pay me to listen to that stuff. Life's too short for bad music. How about some free chamber music, Vivaldi, or Mozart. There's a thought, Apple could buy the LSO and give us some real music.

Life is too short to listen only to a genre of music

 

[TC03]

Wondering what Apple will do to unify this:

iTunes Match
iTunes Radio
iTunes Store
Beats

Bit too much imo.

 

[Mjmar]

If this means apple will redo beats music's hideous user interface, I'm happy.

 

[Yr Blues]

I bet they're going to completely redo iTunes and give it a new name.

Music by Dre

Watch
Desk (iMac)
Mac (MacBook)
Mac Air
Pad
Pad Air
Phone
Pod
Pro (Mac Pro)
TV

 

[Patriot24]

I dropped Pandora and picked up Beats. I listen to Beats all the time. Love it. Really hate Apple's doing this.

They're going to deliver the value of Beats Music somewhere. They aren't just going to shut it down, cancel everyone's subscriptions, and keep promoting iTunes Radio as the future of music.

If anything, it may come at a reduced cost (free for iTunes Match customers?).

 

[Rogifan]

When did Apple start supporting Android?

Beat Music has an Android app.