Beats

Beats Music drops annual subscription fee to $99, free trial extended to 14 days for everyone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2018

Hot on the heels of officially announcing the major $3 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics LCC., and ahead of its SVP Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi's joint appearance at the Code Conference tonight, Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre's four months old music service has just sweetened the deal.

The startup has dropped the price of Beats Music yearly subscription free to $99.99, down from $119.88.

Additionally, the previous 7-day free trial of Beats Music has now been extended in a “no strings attached” move to fourteen days to all users...

Apple to announce $3 billion Beats acquisition this week

Cody Lee ∙ May 27, 2014

Apple has remained mum on rumors that it's looking to acquire Beats Electronics, but it appears it's finally ready to break the silence. The New York Post reports tonight that the Cupertino firm is expected to announce the acquisition within the next few days.

Perhaps even more interesting is that the Post says Apple has managed to trim some $200 million off the price tag during the past two weeks of negotiation. According to the outlet's sources, the company has reached a deal to buy Beats for an even $3 billion...

Billboard: Apple-Beats deal delayed due to valuation, role uncertainties

Cody Lee ∙ May 24, 2014

Billboard is out with a new report this weekend, claiming that it's learned why the Apple-Beats acquisition has not been announced yet. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the outlet says that there are at least 5 things holding up the deal.

First, the buyout is 'complicated.' With this being Apple's largest purchase ever, the folks in Cupertino want to make sure they cross every t and dot every i. And second, the iPad-maker was nowhere near ready for details of the negotiations to leak...

New report says Apple-Beats deal was close to falling apart, but is still on

Cody Lee ∙ May 22, 2014

It's been two weeks since we first received word that Apple was looking to acquire Beats Electronics, and we still haven't heard a peep about the sale from either company. Some folks have taken the silence as a sign talks had broken down, but a new report says that's not the case.

According to TechCrunch, sources with knowledge of the deal say that Apple's planned multi-billion dollar acquisition of headphone maker Beats will go through. The outlet does note, however, that negotiations have been bumpy and close to falling apart on multiple occasions...

Steve Jobs biographer: Apple’s supposed Beats buy about video, not headphones and music

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 16, 2016

By now, everyone has already chimed in with their two cents on what Apple's rumored Beats buy might mean for Apple's reputation in music - even our own Cody Lee has summarized the more popular theories floating around out there.

It's commonly accepted that Beats Electronic, LCC. co-founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine will be taking on senior roles at Apple after Beats buyout, with their grand introductions as Apple executives apparently set to take place at WWDC.

Bloomberg thinks Apple will keep Beats as a separate brand and improve its headphones design and another source speculated that the deal could lead to high-resolution music on iTunes.

But according to Steve Jobs's biographer Walter Isaacson, none of this is true as the deal is actually about video, not about headphones or streaming music...

MOG founder suing Beats for more than $20 million

Cody Lee ∙ May 16, 2014

As Apple moves closer to finalizing its Beats acquisition deal, a new report is out on a recently-filed lawsuit against the headphone-maker. The plaintiff is David Hyman, founder of music service MOG (now Beats Music), and he feels that Beats owes him a lot of money.

In the suit, shared by The Wrap, Hyman claims that he was offered a stout compensation package when Beats purchased his company and made him the CEO of Beats Music, which he never received. So now he's suing the firm for at least $20 million plus interest...

Apple’s Beats acquisition may not be finalized until next week

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 16, 2016

Following the flurry of reports late last week regarding Apple's plan to acquire Beats Electronics, a lot of folks expected the iPad-maker to comment on the matter after the long weekend. But Monday came, and went, without a single word from Cupertino.

As it turns out, that may be because it isn't a done deal yet. Citing people familiar with the transaction, Recode's Peter Kafka is reporting that Apple's Beats acquisition is taking longer than originally expected, and it may not be finalized until next week...

Bloomberg: Apple to keep Beats as a separate brand, improve headphones design

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 12, 2014

A report last Thursday by The Financial Times on Apple's alleged $3.2 billion purchase of Beats Electronics, LCC. - potentially Apple's most pricey acquisition to date - has taken the technology industry by surprise.

And as pundits continue to assess the rationale behind Apple's purported move, Bloomberg on Monday ran a revealing story explaining that the two firms share more commonalities than meets the eye, despite a world of difference in terms of corporate culture.

Moreover, Apple apparently intends to keep Beats hardware around while improving upon the design of the startup's pricey headphones...