Earlier today (Sept. 22), a story appeared on TechCrunch that stated Apple would be shutting down the recently acquired streaming music service Beats Music, citing five "prominent employees at Apple and Beats." Company reps for Apple and Beats have denied those claims, telling The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard that the story is "not true."
Discontinuing the streaming service would be an interesting move since it's not even a year old and Apple recently spent $3 billion to acquire it along with Beats Electronics. According to the TechCrunch article, engineers from Beats Music were moved off the service and on to other Apple projects. The story also cites the fact that new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus didn't come with the Beats Music app already loaded on, like other Apple apps. Re/code's Peter Kafka was able to confirm via Apple reps that the company may rebrand Beats, but they certainly want to stay in the streaming music business.
Apple CEO Tim Cook recently spoke with Charlie Rose about why he pushed for the Beats acquisition, calling founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre "creative geniuses." "I went into the thing skeptically," Cook said about Beats Music. "One night I'm sitting playing with theirs versus some others. And all of a sudden it dawns on me that when I listen to theirs, I feel completely different."
"Today we are excited to officially welcome Beats Music and Beats Electronics to the Apple family," the tech giant's website read last month after the deal was complete. "Music has always held a special place in our hearts, and we're thrilled to join forces with a group of people who love it as much as we do. Beats cofounders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre have created beautiful products that have helped millions of people deepen their connection to music. We're delighted to be working with the team to elevate that experience even further. And we can't wait to hear what's next."
