With the news yesterday of Apple buying Beats there was a lot to take in. Here’s a rundown of all of the news:
Dr. Dre’s mouth may have lost him 200 million, but probably not
Right before the deal that was rumored at 3.2 billion, there were rumors that Apple cut the price down to 3 billion because they were not happy with Dr. Dre talking about how he would be hip-hop’s first billionaire. Although this would seem Apple-esque to dock someone 200 million, The New York Post might have a better explanation stating that there was a leaked report that showed a lower user base that was expected which may have triggered a re-evaluation.But of course keeping to it’s roots Beats announced it from their twitter the best way possible.
Here’s to the next episode. #applebeats pic.twitter.com/GaHy1G84xF — Beats By Dre (@beatsbydre) May 28, 2014
Apple’s Leadership Just Got a whole lot cooler
As part of the $2.6 billion in cash and $400 million in stock, Dr. Dre and Jimmie Ivoine will be joining Apple’s Management Team. I’m sure that the first thing someone should do is get Tim Cook a copy of The Chronic. They are even speaking like true Apple People. In a Q&A, Dre and Ivoine was given a loaded question about what they can build with Apple that they couldn't do on their own. “Obviously, we can’t talk about that, as you know. See, in the record business, you can show someone your song, and they don’t copy it. In the tech business, you show somebody your idea, and they steal it.”Get these boys a turtleneck.
Lightning ports everywhere!
Apple didn't just purchase the Beats streaming service, but they bought everything Beats including the headphones, speakers, and the Audio Processing software. Expect to see some of that software in the iPhone in the near future and iPhone ports on the new Beats gear. I’m sure it will still work universally.Customers are already seeing the benefits
Anyone who is already or looking to be a subscriber to the Beats app just got a better deal. Yearly subscriptions are now $99, down from $119.98. The price for a monthly subscription is the same at $9.99. The price for AT&T subscribers remains the same, $9.99 a month for individuals and $14.99 a month for families with a 30-day free trial period. The company is also extending the free trial period for all new users — from seven to 14 days. It’s already available on the iOS and Android app. Windows Phone app will be updated shortly.HP will be milking this dry for as long as they still can
Remember when Beats was hot and then went silent for a while? Then remember when HP bought interest in it and it was in all of their laptops? Well just because Apple bought it doesn't mean that they can rip up that contract. It seems that HP’s contract lets them continue to put Beats software in their computers until 2014, and then be able to sell them until 2015. Expect HP to grab a bit of this gravy train by coming out with every Beats related computer that they can possibly be in. By then I’m sure that beats will be in your next iDevice.Beats may get boring looking - or just conform to the Apple Look
One casualty from this merger is Ammunition, the design firm that helped Beats get it’s iconic look. “The incredible impact that the design of Beats has had on culture as a result of our collaboration since that first meeting is still unbelievable to me. I am humbled by the thought that millions of music-loving people proudly wear Beats on streets all over the world.” Expect the next product from Beats to look different.iTunes and the Beats App will run separately, so Android users don’t get your hopes up for iTunes on Android just yet…
Apple has announced that they will not absorb Beats into iTunes, but have them run separately. According to iTunes head Eddy Cue, “The addition of Beats will make our music lineup even better, from free streaming with iTunes Radio to a world-class subscription service in Beats, and of course buying music from the iTunes Store as customers have loved to do for years,” This means that more than likely we will not see iTunes on Android anytime soon. Beats is a great steaming app and that will help beef up iTunes, where iTunes Radio falls short. The subscription-base will help pull them towards purchasing and when they are ready, iTunes will be right there to serve them. But they can easily leave that feature out of the Android app. Since they are separate, they can always just redirect to someplace else.Only time will tell what will come of this deal. Well, actually Q4 will, when the deal will be complete. But I think everyone hopes the same thing. Nothing but good.
