Beats is either ‘in talks’ with Apple over new music-streaming service, or it’s just very good at marketing

Beats musicstreaming service is in either 'in talks' with Apple or just very good at marketing

Excuse us, but we find it hard to swallow some of the hype that swirls around the Beats brand. That sounds harsh, maybe, but it's borne out of experience. Anyway, we do trust Reuters, and that outlet claims to have it on good authority that Beats is "in talks" with Apple over a partnership involving the forthcoming Daisy music-streaming service that was formerly MOG. The word is that Tim Cook attended an "informational" meeting with Beats CEO Jimmy Iovine and "expressed interest" in his business model -- whatever that is -- and that Apple's head of Internet products, Eddy Cue, was also present.

In news that is very much related, Beats has also revealed that it's managed to generate enough buzz around the $12 million acquisition of MOG to raise a further $60 million in investment to help it to launch the rebranded and hopefully expanded service as a separate entity later this year. It'll be interesting to see how the newcomer plans to tackle the already-entrenched competition, possibly with curated playlists and other MySpace-style ideas, and we're fully prepared to eat our skeptics' hats if it succeeds.

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Via: VentureBeat

Source: Reuters

Beats Electronics announces project Daisy music service, appoints new CEO

Beats audio announces project Daisy music service, appoints new CEO

Beats snapped up music service MOG back in summer for a tidy sum of $14 million. Since then it's been unclear on what it intended to do with it. Today we learn that Dre and Iovine have appointed former Topspin boss Ian Rogers as CEO, specifically with the task of taking what was MOG, and developing it into a new project that the firm has dubbed "Daisy." In a conference, the team assured that they will use everything Beats has (we assume that's its brand strength and marketing ability) to push Daisy through to what is, to be fair, a very busy market space. Trent Reznor is also involved in the project, acting as a connection between the artist and the consumer. Rogers will reportedly remain involved with Topspin in an executive chairman capacity. Interestingly the firm says it will be focusing on mobile first, with iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8 all getting some love. No details on the business model, though it's been suggested that a $10 per month subscription service could be on the cards. MOG is still staying as MOG for now, but any new branding and product direction will be sure to be outlined soon. Full press release after the break.

Continue reading Beats Electronics announces project Daisy music service, appoints new CEO

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Source: AllThingsD

Trent Reznor teases Beats-backed streaming music service, wants a personal touch

Trent Reznor gives clues to his Beatsbacked streaming music service, wants a personal touch

Dr. Dre isn't the only musician to collaborate with Beats on projects deeper than one-off headphone models. Nine Inch Nails and How To Destroy Angels creator Trent Reznor tells The New Yorker that he and Beats are developing a streaming music service, codenamed Daisy, that should go beyond just automatically suggesting related songs like with Pandora. Alongside algorithm-based picks, Daisy should introduce "intelligent curation" from humans to make musical connections that wouldn't otherwise take place. We'll know more when the service goes live early next year; we're presuming the recommendations will involve more than just another spin of The Downward Spiral.

[Image credit: Nine Inch Nails and Rob Sheridan, Flickr]

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Via: Pitchfork

Source: The New Yorker (subscription required)