What Beats brings to Apple are guys with very rare skills. People like this aren’t born every day. They’re very rare. They really get music deeply. So we get an infusion in Apple of some great talent.
We get a subscription music service that we believe is the first subscription service that really got it right. They had the insight early on to know how important human curation is. That technology by itself wasn’t enough — that it was the marriage of the two that would really be great and produce a feeling in people that we want to produce. They’ve also built an incredible premium headphone business that’s been tuned by experts and critical ears. We’re fans of that. It’s a reasonable-size business that’s fast-growing.
But mostly, backing up — it’s because we always are future-focused. So it’s not what Apple and Beats are doing today. It’s what we believe pairing the two together can produce for the future.
Talent, music service, and the future.
I don’t believe this can singularly be looked at as a move for better “music streaming.” It’s only one piece of a whole picture. I think that Apple is making a full on move into Radio as a whole. Of course this is my opinion but it seems like all signs are pointing to it. Between the announcement of Carplay, and it not only being built into cars but also having aftermarket compatibility, the acquisition of Beats for music, and the report yesterday that they’re bridging on ESPN which will carry World Cup and i’m sure other live sports events, plus NPR. All that in addition to the ability to be able to listen to podcasts, which is just radio on demand, and you start to see a picture of how huge this is going to be. And I believe that’s just scratching the surface….
Ignoring the streaming side for a minute, I don’t get how Tim Cook can stand there with a straight face and say “They’ve also built an incredible premium headphone business that’s been tuned by experts and critical ears.” Beats headphones are universally panned as being overpriced, mediocre-sounding junk. Look at the article that The Wirecutter published earlier this week on better alternatives to Beats headphones. Either Tim is talking out his ass or someone sold him a bill of goods. I don’t like either scenario.
The Apple haters are going to love the fact that Apple is selling inferior products at a premium price just because of the label. They’ve been accusing Apple of that forever. They’ll finally have an actual case for their claims.
My Beats are made sturdier, have lasted longer, and sound better than my previous pair of Bose headphones. They’re also much more comfortable. The internet loves to hate on Beats, but they aren’t crap.
I like Apple – a lot. But, this drivel is total BS. This is the stupidest move Apple ever has made and to I think proves Cook doesn’t know what he’s doing. Maybe the Apple cynics are right.
Translatin’:
“What Beats brings to Apple are guys with very rare skills. People like this aren’t born every day. They’re very rare. They really get music deeply. So we get an infusion in Apple of some great talent.”
They cooler than us, but we got more money. We give em money, they give us cool.
“We get a subscription music service that we believe is the first subscription service that really got it right. They had the insight early on to know how important human curation is. That technology by itself wasn’t enough — that it was the marriage of the two that would really be great and produce a feeling in people that we want to produce.”
I’ve no idea what magic they doing there. So we bought ’em and said “do that magic for us”.
“They’ve also built an incredible premium headphone business that’s been tuned by experts and critical ears. We’re fans of that. It’s a reasonable-size business that’s fast-growing.”
Man those are some shitty headphones, but I’ll say anything to prop up that business. They better keep selling for a few years, because they have 3 billion dollars to make up for.
“But mostly, backing up — it’s because we always are future-focused. So it’s not what Apple and Beats are doing today. It’s what we believe pairing the two together can produce for the future.”
Synergy, motherfuckers! Synergy! 111
you forgot a third possibility — that Cooks knows something you dont know. like strategic roadmaps and other such plans. i mean, really. nobody reading this site has any clue what they talk about in that office.
in another thread user JohnDoey, an actual studio professional, has the best take on it:
http://www.loopinsight.com/2014/05/28/apple-acquires-beats-for-3-billion/
Good point. I hope you’re right.