“With the announcement of Apple’s acquisition of Beats Electronics now in our rearview mirror, many are trying to figure out what exactly the company bought with its $2.6 billion,” Jon Maples writes for Re/code. “Some have speculated that it could be the premium headphones or the potential of the streaming-music service that attracted Apple to Beats, but during the Code Conference last week, CEO Tim Cook confirmed that the unique talents of the company leaders were also a major factor in acquiring the firm.”
“The skills of Beats CEO Jimmy Iovine and co-founder Dr. Dre are legendary in recorded music. But this is a watershed moment for digital music. Apple might have hired talent from the music industry, but it hadn’t put someone of Iovine’s caliber in a leadership position,” Maples writes. “Nor has anyone in digital music, for that matter. The operating mode has always been technologists first, music second, with extremely mixed results.”
“Although Eddy Cue says there has been no reset since the end of the Jobsian Era, hiring two guys with resumes like Iovine and Dre sure seems like the beginning of a new Apple,” Maples writes. “Beyond the gravitas of Iovine and Dre, there’s another talent coming on board in Beats Music CEO Ian Rogers, a talented digital marketer who has spent a great deal of his career figuring out how to exploit new media channels to build revenue streams for artists.”
Much more in the full article – recommended – here.
Related articles:
Apple insiders: Arrogant Apple managers are the reasons why iTunes Radio sucks, Ping failed, and Apple had to buy Beats – June 5, 2014
Apple’s Beats buy is two-sided for music streaming rivals – June 1, 2014
Apple paying under $500 million for Beats Music streaming service – May 30, 2014
With Beats, Apple has its next iPod – May 29, 2014
Jimmy Iovine: Apple’s new music impresario – May 29, 2014
Tim Cook: Beats acquisition a ‘killer’ deal for Apple – May 29, 2014
Did Tim Cook just pay $3 billion for his successor, Jimmy Iovine? – May 29, 2014
Steven Levy: With Beats Music service, Apple’s Tim Cook goes against the wisdom of Steve Jobs – May 29, 2014
Apple + Beats = MTV? – May 29, 2014
Eddy Cue and Jimmy Iovine: Steve Jobs would be extremely proud of Apple today – May 29, 2014
Jimmy Iovine brings his own brand of ‘reality distortion field’ to Apple – May 29, 2014
JPMorgan: Apple may spin-off Beats Electronics business – May 29, 2014
Apple CEO Cook: Beats deal a ‘no-brainer’ – May 28, 2014
Tim Cook’s internal memo to Apple employees regarding Beats acquisition – May 28, 2014
It’s official: Apple acquires Beats Music and Beats Electronics for $3 billion – May 28, 2014
I call Tim’s office. I was sent to his voice mail and his recording said, “Aw man, don’t be hatin playa. Ain’t nuttin but a g thang.”
The creativity brought by Dr. Dre is mind numbing.
DR DRE LYRICS
“Nuthin But A “G” Thang”
(feat. Snoop Doggy Dogg)
[Snoop Doggy Dogg]
One, two, three and to the fo’
Snoop Doggy Dogg and Dr. Dre are at the do’
Ready to make an entrance, so back on up
(Cause you know we ’bout had to rip shit up)
Gimme the microphone first, so I can bust like a bubble
Compton and Long Beach together, now you know you in trouble
Ain’t nothin’ but a G thang, baaaaabay!
Two loc’ed out G’s so we’re craaaaazay!
Death Row is the label that paaaaays me!
Unfadable, so please don’t try to fade this (Hell yeah)
But, uh, back to the lecture at hand
Perfection is perfected, so I’m ‘a let ’em understand
From a young G’s perspective
And before me dig out a bitch I have ta’ find a contraceptive
You never know she could be earnin’ her man,
And learnin’ her man, and at the same time burnin’ her man
Now you know I ain’t wit that shit, Lieutenant
Ain’t no pussy good enough to get burnt while I’m up in it
(yeah) Now that’s realer than real-deal Holyfield
And now all you hookas and ho’s know how I feel
Well if it’s good enough to get broke off a proper chunk
I’ll take a small piece of some of that funky stuff
[Hook: Snoop Doggy Dogg]
It’s like this and like that and like this and uh
It’s like that and like this and like that and uh
It’s like this and like that and like this and uh
Dre, creep to the mic like a phantom
[Dr. Dre]
Well I’m peepin’, and I’m creepin’, and I’m creep-in’
But I damn near got caught, ’cause my beeper kept beepin’
Now it’s time for me to make my impression felt
So sit back, relax, and strap on your seatbelt
You never been on a ride like this befo’
With a producer who can rap and control the maestro
At the same time with the dope rhyme that I kick
You know, and I know, I flow some ol funky shit
To add to my collection, the selection
Symbolizes dope, take a toke, but don’t choke
If ya’ do, ya’ have no clue
O’ what me and my homey Snoop Dogg came to do
[Hook: Snoop Doggy Dogg & Dr. Dre]
It’s like this and like that and like this and uh
It’s like that and like this and like that and uh
It’s like this, and we ain’t got no love for those
So jus’ chill, ’til the next episode
[Snoop Doggy Dogg]
Fallin’ back on that ass with a hellified gangsta’ lean
Gettin’ funky on the mic like a’ old batch o’ collard greens
It’s the capital S, oh yes, the fresh N-double O-P
D-O-double G-Y D-O-double G ya’ see
Showin’ much flex when it’s time to wreck a mic
pimpin’ ho’s and clockin’ a grip like my name was Dolomite
Yeah, and it don’t quit
I think they in a mood for some mothafuckin’ G shit
So Dre. (What up Dogg?)
We gotta give ’em what dey want (What’s that, G?)
We gotta break ’em off somethin’ (Hell yeah)
And it’s gotta be bumpin’ (City of Compton!)
[Dr. Dre]
It’s where it takes place so I’m a ask your attention
Mobbin like a mothafucka but I ain’t lynchin
Droppin’ the funky shit that’s makin the sucka niggaz mumble
When I’m on the mic, it’s like a cookie, they all crumble
Try to get close, and your ass’ll get smacked
My mothafuckin homie Doggy Dogg has my back
Never let me slip, ’cause if I slip, then I’m slippin’
But if I got my Nina, then you know I’m straight trippin’
And I’m a continue to put the rap down, put the mack down
And if your bitches talk shit, I have ta’ put the smack down
Yeah, and ya’ don’t stop
I told you I’m just like a clock when I tick and I tock
But I’m never off, always on, ’til the break dawn
C-O-M-P-T-O-N, and the city they call Long Beach
Puttin’ the shit together
Like my nigga D.O.C., no one can do it better
[Hook: Dr. Dre & Snoop Doggy Dogg]
Like this, that and this and uh
It’s like that and like this and like that and uh
It’s like this, and we ain’t got no love for those
So jus’ chill, ’til the next episode
heh…well said.
And you need a numbed mind to listen to that crap on Beats headphones…
Nothing wrong with this song it’s a West Coast G Funk classic.
So just to understand your logic, Thelonius Tom. Dr. Dre, a man who founded or co-founded at least three extremely successful businesses(Death Row Records, Aftermath Records, and Beats Audio),who launched the careers of some of the most successful recording artists of all time(you might have heard of this kid called Eminem), who was worth $550 Million BEFORE the Beats deal, and has been able to stay relevant and successful in one of the most difficult and cut throat industries for THREE DECADES, is somehow unintelligent because he has written songs using street vernacular? Making music with slang that resonates with his target demographic resulting in him selling MILLIONS of albums makes him a moron? I guess all country singers are idiots because they say y’all, and sing about pickup trucks, and getting drunk? If you took away the genre of the music he makes, the color of his skin, and just left his business accomplishments, all of you closet racists and uncle toms would be singing his praises. Dr. Dre was born in one of the worst ghettos in the US(Compton), was a high school dropout, and still somehow managed to amass a
fortune as an entrepreneur, with absolutely nothing more to guide him than his gut. You’re right he’s definitely a moron. A horrible person too. That’s why he and Jimmy Iovine Donated 70 Million to the USC to create the Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation. The goal of the Academy has been stated as “to shape the future by nurturing the talents, passions, leadership and risk-taking of uniquely qualified students who are motivated to explore and create new art forms, technologies, and business models.” You’re right, there’s just not a decent thing you can say about this guy. The second anyone on this slanted site can give a better reason than “I don’t like rap music” to discredit Dr. Dre as an entrepreneur, I’m open to hearing it. Until then, every time you decide to use Ebonics, or quote a rap lyric in an attempt to illustrate that Dr. Dre is the lame duck in the Beats acquisition, you’re not only revealing yourself as a racist, or Uncle Tom, you’re also revealing you’re an idiot. By the way, you should change your screen name because it’s not only embarrassing, but also offensive that you would dare to try and associate yourself with a jazz legend…
And as far as the other guy… I still say, “Jimmy who?”
Thelonius who?
Jimmy Iovine has been well known for years to people interested in music who actually pay attention.
Watch the keynote with jimmy and mossberg and you’ll see a massive similarity m with jimmy and Steve jobs.
Watch it and listen to what he says and how he communicates – they are so very similar is uncanny.
I wouldn’t underestimate Tim, but like tattoos, rap and hiphop are not my cup of tea, to put it mildly. My least favorite genre of music. I don’t even consider it music- but an art form that doesn’t resonate with me, like haikus or most country music or opera.
By the way, the plural of haiku is haiku, a so-called zero plural.
That’s a very reasonable response. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but hiphop/rap is still art which I am a proud fan of.
Criminal trespassers with spray paint also consider themselves artists.
Just say’in …
Many actually are.
Just sayin’
they are artists you moron
Matter of opinion.
If you consider their work as art then yes, if don’t then it’s not art.
Anyone that can press the spray button on a cheap can of flying paint is an artist?
Anyone driving a car is a NASCAR driver?
Anyone ordering a pizza is a soaring heights orator?
Tell me again who is the moron.
Early on hip hop was a blend of jazz, poetry, and funk, and produced much beautiful art and social commentary, like the original Jazzmatazz series by Guru. Then it degenerated into rap. Ugh. It became the soundtrack of a failed & wretched culture that honors misogyny, promotes homophobia, and pushes people toward antisocial activities as a way of life. Certainly not all rap, but so much that you have to work to find the stuff that doesn’t, and Dr. Dre is an icon of this cesspool. Unfortunately out of fear of people using the R word (racist) most people won’t call it what it is, garbage.
I have no doubt that Dr. Dre will bring music industry insight to Apple. As someone indicated, it will be very narrow insight albeit into a highly lucrative sector.
Can’t agree more
Icon of a cesspool.
Yup, that says it all …
We agree. 🙂
Tats and rap — society can do better.
BTW, 50s country. Classic maestro Hank Williams and later Patsy Cline to name a few.
Dude- he just earned north of $500,000,000 this year. What are you earning? Maybe there’s more than weird lyrics to the good doctor.
You know the price of everything but the value of nothing.
…dude.
…dude right back!
All this criticism brings to mind a quote from the immortal Liberace: “When the reviews are bad I tell my staff they can join me as I cry all the way to the bank”. Give the man his due. If he has nothing more to offer, he won’t be at Apple.
Yo motherfucka, don’t be hatin cuz I an’t chillin on this 3b drop on Dre. I ain’t no Dre dog, I don’t be kickin or trickin wit dat bitch and neither do you dig?
I would like to clear my throat and read more from the inspirational writings of Dr. Dre.
Xxplosive, West coast shit
My nigguh-ish ways attract, girls that used to turn they back
Causin me to yank they arm and pose like I would do the harm
Now I’m sayin thank you cause they tell me, my shit’s the bomb
Xxplosive.. ..for my niggaz drinkin Cognac, smokin weed, always pack
mo’ than one, firearm, chrome rims, ridin on
Chronic in yo’ system, let me know, my shit’s the bomb – Xxplosive..
[Kurupt]
West coast shit nigga
Overdosage – imperial pistols ferocious
Fuck a bitch; don’t tease bitch, strip tease bitch
Eat a bowl of these bitch, gobble the dick
Hoes forgot to eat a dick can shut the fuck up!
Gobble and swallow a nut up, shut up and get my cash
Backhanded, pimpslapped backwards and left stranded
Just pop ya collar, pimp convention hoes for a dollar
Six-Deuce in a plush, six-deuce impala
Pimpin hoes from Texas to Guatemala
Bitch niggaz paid for hoes, just to lay wit hoes
Relax one night, and paid to stay wit hoes
Captain Save’Em all day (bitch) well save this dick
Bitch nigga, you more of a bitch than a bitch
You ain’t into hittin pussy, or hittin the switch
You into hittin bitches off of the grip, you punk bitch
my god, that is so poignant. The “”eat a bowl of these bitch, gobble the dick” line made my eyes tear-up..I can barely type now.
😥 Waaa! *sobbing in the corner*
Incredible artistry
Think he will be enrolled in a mandatory diversity training class by Apple HR.
The billion dollar question!
Does a liberal company have an HR department just as liberal? Or, do Apple HR professionals maintain industry professional standards, i.e. fair diversity protection for all employees.
The scenarios are endless. Just one:
Do billion dollar rap execs get a pass and company protection after singing offensive gangsta rap at the water cooler?
The baptist intern from South Carolina felt compelled to report a hostile work environment after hearing bitch or hoe.
Diversity training for foul mouth rappers. Now that is a video I would five-star rate on YouTube.
Cesspool culture.
Grammar failure.
Bad attitude.
Narcissist and misogynist.
All take and no give.
All foul mouth and disrespect.
All set to a BEAT.
This type of rap is CRAP.
Which inspires me to cue up the best of the Drifters and Barry White on my iPhone …
And let’s not forget the harshest lyrics off ALL.
Singing, er, mouthing slang gang words to INCITE and COMMIT violence against fellow innocent human beings.
The single GREATEST TRAGEDY of Gangsta Rap.
And Hank Williams was a drunk and a junkie.
Just sayin’
And your point is?
Whatever demons Hank faced in his personal life, he did not use his music to incite violence and restrained from potty mouth lyrics.
more to the good doctor or a fall back to that old adage that a fool and their money are soon parted?!?
Oh, God. A rap looser changing apple culture. There would go apple.
Hmmm…
Not knowing who Iovine is not Iovines problem rather the problem of the person saying “jimmy who?” being way out of touch with the reality of the music industry and envirnoment !
Dre in his own right is a force in the mudic industry.. But i have no doubt his roll will be limited to some PR at urben level…. A market apple is not very well connected with !
Dr Dre is a river of shit.
And you are a river if ignorance and bigotry !
sorry, I’m immune to the race card fallacy, especially when it comes to art.
Oh please .. Spare me !
Takes one, etc.
I worked for Motown for years. Never heard of Jimmy, but I was the Director of IT, not the Director of A&R.
really? You ever get to meet Marvin Gaye?
Unfortunately he was dead by the time I got there. I did meet Stevie Wonder though. Since my real name is Marvin, the “Marvin Gay” jokes never ended.
Motown was an all Macintosh company. I was very proud of the technology work I did there. It was a nice network. Then we got bought by Polygram and the PC people invaded my happy Mac world. They were not happy that a 3 person team easily handled the needs of 200 Mac users. Told me to start planning on the conversion to Windows. I started looking for a new job instead.
beyond cool, you must have some great memories of your time there.
you should write a short story or article about it…”Macs In Motown.”
That is way too cool. Talk about tech heaven.
At least until the Alt/Ctrl/Delete pillagers stormed the castle walls.
Love Motown and all the great artists of that period. Saw the Drifters in concert in D.C. a couple times. Man, they were (are) great.
Apple is big in the urban world. Trust me. Macs, iPads, iPhones, are serious tech bling.
You seem to have a foot in two worlds. Must be interesting
Dr. Dre is just another one of these modern music fools who make “music” with no soul or meaning. He is no different from Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus. I wish Michael Jackson ditched Sony when he had the chance…because now, Sony is pimping his music to sell Fragmandroid phones! What reasonable person would buy an Xperia Fragmandroid phone just because it comes with a free download of Michael Jackson’s “new, never heard before” album, “Xscape”? (I see what you did there!) $ony is a bunch if greedy racists who never liked MJ in the first place. Apple…please, PLEASE destroy $ony and their Fragmandroid rip-offs!
Quit with the Michael Jackson deification. He was a self-obsessed idiot who was addicted to drugs, squandered tens, hundreds of millions of dollars on junk, and had dubius relationships with children.
His last decent album was Thriller.
What are you saying? Thriller, for the most part, is the most simplistic of his adult work. His later albums include some of the most complex pop music ever produced. It’s a shame his personal defects buried most of the later work. ps – no idea what this has to do with the article. . . just replying to the comment.
A notification just popped. Apple just bought something…
Something called Spotsetter.. a “social recommendation service.”
I’ve been thinking about this Beats thing , didn’t want to post ’cause I didn’t want to get into a flame war but I think I will put my 2 cents in now:
1) I don’t listen much hiphop or rap (actually dislike some of the lyrics that advocate violence etc) but I try to keep an open mind to others preferences. I also acknowledge those kinds of music are very popular with some people
2) Apple succeeded because Jobs Thought Different from what was expected. Unlike most tech nerds (after quitting college and rejoining) he took CALLIGRAPHY courses. This art training was a significant thing that help make Apple different and led it to it’s mountain top today .
Do we need to Think Different today? Other conservative tech companies might not hire Dre etc but perhaps it was good idea for Apple?
3) Apple is moving into a diverse world today with many different types of people. Apple top leadership, talented as they are, are ethnically and gender wise (until recently) a White Male Mono Culture. Perhaps they wanted to broaden their horizons?
I don’t want to get into a political flame war but I like to point out that in recent years the Republican party has lost some elections because it didn’t understand the non white vote (the population mix today in USA has shifted from overwhelming white) — in certain places where it did get it and got the Hispanic vote in the south it can win.
(personally I think BOTH dems and repubs have bad and good guys and all kinds on in between). Like I said I don’t want a political flame war but I just want to point out the reality of diversity.
4) look at the new Dre Beats/Apple Brazil World Cup Ad.
Some people in USA blasts it for things like being ‘sexually exploitive’ etc (it even has brief sex scene) and it might not work in the conservative (sexually repressive ?) USA but from blogs World Cup fans in South America and elsewhere it seems they LOVE it.
A soppy Apple ‘Chicken Fat’ ad might not work so well in those places ….
that video, though artfully executed, gives me solace that I am a life-long New York Yankees fan with no permanent cartoons on my body.
I love this video.
OMG I love this video. It put me through many changes…
Whichever way you slice it, beats and those two guys ain’t worth 2.6 billion of anyone’s money.
So Dre turns up day one week one and mouths off to senior apple executives that have helped make the company the success it is and Dre gets the sack.
Not a bad pay cheque for doing nothing.