Apple and Beats Music & Beats Electronics have officially closed a deal worth a total of $3 billion ($2.6 billion in cash and $400 million in equity for Beats Music). Apple products posses a clean, lean, professional texture and appearance and with their new purchase you can bet that they’ll be drawing in a new demographic of computer users and music lovers. This move by Apple will also boost their iTunes Radio offering, which has grown to rival competitions like Pandora and Spotify, as they merge with Beats’ old streaming service, which hosts roughly 250,000 paid subscribers.
“Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple. That’s why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world.” – Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.
Co-founder of Beats, Jimmy Iovine, who has worked with Apple for 11 years on their music strategy, said he will leave his post as chairman of Interscope Records to work full-time at Apple. Other co-founder, Dr. Dre, spoke up saying that he will continue to make music while doing “as much as it takes” for Apple.
“I’ve always known in my heart that Beats belonged with Apple. The idea when we started the company was inspired by Apple’s unmatched ability to marry culture and technology. Apple’s deep commitment to music fans, artists, songwriters and the music industry is something special.” – Co-founder of Beats, Jimmy Iovine
[H/t: Variety.com // Apple.com // WSJ.com // YourEDM.com]
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