“A June launch of Apple’s new subscription service is going down to the wire,” Glenn Peoples reports for Billboard. “Industry sources say Apple does not have the necessary licensing deals a month before the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference that will take place in San Francisco from June 8th to 12th.”
“A June launch is still attainable. One source notes Apple has been able to quickly secure licensing deals in the past,” Peoples reports. “‘If any company can pull it off, they can,’ the source tells Billboard, adding that ‘labels are more likely to play ball with them” because of Apple’s track record of generating revenue for rights holders.’ Another major label source believes the Beats Music re-launch isn’t coming soon. ‘June won’t be the release date. The deals aren’t done.'”
“Apple is overhauling and probably rebranding the Beats Music subscription service it acquired in its $3 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics,” Peoples reports. “It is expected to carry the standard $9.99-per-month price tag…”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Down to the wire, but it’ll all get hammered out by WWDC or, if not, over the summer in time for an autumn unveiling.
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Apple pushing music labels to kill free Spotify streaming ahead of ‘iTunes Music’ launch – May 4, 2015
U.S. feds weigh investigation of Apple’s forthcoming ‘iTunes Music’ streaming service – April 7, 2015
EU regulators already probing Apple’s music streaming plans in Europe – April 2, 2015
Apple’s ‘iTunes Music’ streaming service to cost $9.99/month, no free tier; iTunes Radio to get makeover – March 26, 2015
With iTunes Music, Apple wants to help music labels roll back the tide of free digital music – March 6, 2015
Still bewildered over the Beats and Iovine deal.!
3,000,000,000$$$ for what ?
Those of you who voted my post down …
Please indulge me… Let me know why ….
I did not down vote your post as I have question marks myself but looking at the issue before a few points came out:
Apple bought beats for 3.2 b, it generated 1.2 b in revenue a year.
So apple bought it at 3x revenue
Google bought Nest for 3.2 b as well, Nest generated (analyst estimate) 200 -300 m in revenue. So it was bought for 10x revenue.
So from the two Apple seems to have a better deal .
(I just put this to illustrate although Beats has been bashed very often as a ‘overpriced’ deal it’s not that bad comparing it to other deals).
The hardware segment of Beats seems to be quite profitable (as it was private before and apple doesn’t break down it’s profits its hard to judge). The streaming service was sold for 500m of the 3 b price apple paid according to music insiders (which is still over it’s presumed value. But of course even if overpriced 500 m is nothing to Apple ).
Iovine has been helpful to Cook in other ways like getting the HBO deal. Which is the foot in the door for video.
I expect Beats Hardware sales to have accelerated with Apple ‘s added Retail experience ( stores, partners, online etc).
Personally I think without Jobs MULTI TALENTS (product, sales, Media — his media skills seen in iTunes, Pixar) Cook needs to get talent at his highest ranks and he has been doing it with various hires.
(btw the more I muse about it the more I am in awe of Jobs (Pixar was ‘Hollywood’ ‘media’ kind of business and completely different from apple ) ….
It is bewildering to me that companies like Pandora and Spotify with only a fraction of Apple resources can have their services up and running in no time and Apple with all its cash and connections can have subscriptions in months and even years, iTunes simply sucks. If record companies are not afraid of Apple, then no one is because these companies have lived on iTunes sales for years.
Some folks keep saying that iTunes sucks but don’t say why. Well, why does iTunes suck?
Not being the best doesn’t equal “sucks”. Especially since it is provided free with your Apple device.
wasted effort. they should just let the record business atrophy into nothingness. Close the iTunes music store.
Apple lacks key music deals…
Entirely inevitable. There are still loads of antiquated, Luddite music corp executives to die off before that business fully enters the 21st century. The same goes with the TV and film businesses. They drag their feet…. I’d be willing to help drag their feet… into the grave. *snark*
We wait.
Apple typically takes it’s time rolling acquisitions into products eg TouchID, liquid metal, maps thingys etc etc.
Beats will flow into iTunes Radio and be relaunched as whatever they choose when they feel it’s right. Apple has to not only re-license everything (when a company is bought out all deals are off) but it has to absorb the people many of whom are artists, into the Apple culture.
Whatever the new service is, it won’t be a spotify clone.