When Apple met Beats
Apple created headlines when it announced that it had taken over Beats for $3 billion earlier this year. It was high time that Apple finally explained to us what they were planning to do with Beats Electronics. Apple has announced that they are planning to integrate Beats Music with iTunes next year.
A fairly obvious move and a prediction which was made by many. It was just a matter of time as to when Apple would finally be making good use of Beats. It is rather surprising that nothing was said out loud in the recent Apple events which took place. Having Beats integrate with iTunes is important news. Beats has also recently launched an Apple TV channel and released a “Listen Now” integration with Shazam.
The reason for this move might be because of the drop in Apple’s music sales, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. WSJ also reports that digital music sales in the iTunes store have fallen between 13 to 14 percent this year, compared to a single digit decline last year. Online subscription based audio streaming apps are eating into a lot of the revenue which could have been earned by music downloads, observed WSJ.
There was a lot of speculation about what Apple would do with the Beats acquisition. Considering Beats makes headphones, that was one area a lot of us thought Beats acquisition would help Apple. While the integration of Beats with iTunes makes sense, Steve Jobs’ biographer Walter Isaacson mentioned that Beats was acquired not just for music and streaming but also for video content providers.
Beats Electronics is one of Apple’s greatest acquisitions and it has also had a significant effect on Apple products.
