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Beats not cool enough for Apple

by on23 September 2014



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Fruity cargo cult Apple does not think that the Beats streaming service is a cool enough name and it is likely to kill off the brand.

Word on the street is that Apple plans to eliminate the Beats Music streaming service, which it acquired in May. The report is less clear on what Apple plans to do with streaming music. One source tells TechCrunch that on-demand music could be integrated into its god awful iTunes, but it is widely expected that Apple will make a "significant music announcement" in the first half of 2015. Apple's music strategy seems to be offering on-demand listening along with ad-supported radio and digital downloads.

Engineers from Beats Music have moved to other divisions at Apple, including iTunes. When Apple bought the Beats brand for $3 billion, Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue called Beats Music "the first music subscription service done right." Of course it mimicked existing services from Spotify, Rdio but Apple admire copying others ideas.

Beats Music used hand-curated playlists and the involvement of music-industry titans like Dr. Dre and Trent Reznor. Apple has actually gone to the extent of denying that it will kill off Beats. Apple plans to continue to offer on-demand streaming but may "modify" the Beats Music brand over time, suggesting it may fold the service into iTunes.

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