Apple's Cook reportedly meets with Beats CEO to discuss music streaming service
A report late Tuesday claims to have inside knowledge of a meeting that took place in late February, where Cook and Beats Audio CEO and hip-hop mogul Jimmy Iovine discussed a music service dubbed "Project Daisy."
Beats Audio CEO Jimmy Iovine. | Source: All Things D
Citing people familiar with the matter, Reuters reported that Apple's chief of media Eddy Cue also joined the meeting, which was said to be "informational" as it covered a wide range of music-related topics including Beats' "Project Daisy" music streaming service. The sources say that while Cook expressed interest in the service's business model and future plans, no official deal was struck.
When outlining the "Daisy" subscription-based service to AllThingsD in January, Iovine let slip that he planned to meet with Cue "soon," but offered no further details on the matter. During the same interview, the Beats chief executive said he pitched a similar idea to late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs in 2001. Jobs was supposedly interested in the concept, Iovine said, but "he didn't want to pay record companies enough," believing that the economics would eventually become more favorable.
Iovine, who besides co-owning Beats is chairman of music label Interscope-Geffen-A&M, has a long history with Apple and was one of the first industry executives to ink a deal over what would become iTunes.
Apple has been rumored to be working on building out some type of streaming music service that will compete with the likes of existing offerings from Rhapsody, MOG and Rdio. Some reports even claim an Apple-branded solution will launch by the end of 2013.
Beats Audio CEO Jimmy Iovine. | Source: All Things D
Citing people familiar with the matter, Reuters reported that Apple's chief of media Eddy Cue also joined the meeting, which was said to be "informational" as it covered a wide range of music-related topics including Beats' "Project Daisy" music streaming service. The sources say that while Cook expressed interest in the service's business model and future plans, no official deal was struck.
When outlining the "Daisy" subscription-based service to AllThingsD in January, Iovine let slip that he planned to meet with Cue "soon," but offered no further details on the matter. During the same interview, the Beats chief executive said he pitched a similar idea to late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs in 2001. Jobs was supposedly interested in the concept, Iovine said, but "he didn't want to pay record companies enough," believing that the economics would eventually become more favorable.
Iovine, who besides co-owning Beats is chairman of music label Interscope-Geffen-A&M, has a long history with Apple and was one of the first industry executives to ink a deal over what would become iTunes.
Apple has been rumored to be working on building out some type of streaming music service that will compete with the likes of existing offerings from Rhapsody, MOG and Rdio. Some reports even claim an Apple-branded solution will launch by the end of 2013.
Comments
If we're lucky they can strike a deal so Macs will come with overpriced, crappy headphones!
Maybe they should have talks with Bose too!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DESuserIGN
If we're lucky they can strike a deal so Macs will come with overpriced, crappy headphones!
Maybe they should have talks with Bose too!
I don't know what the big deal is with Iovine. I just don't see the big deal.
Right up there with the meeting between Cook and Gabe Newell.
I'll believe it when I've just completed it...
That's the absolute LAST person anyone serious about the music industry should be meeting with. I hope this is just a rumor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cash907
That's the absolute LAST person anyone serious about the music industry should be meeting with. I hope this is just a rumor.
Don't worry.
Cook: Jimmy, how you doing?
Iovine: I'm doing pretty fricking good!
Cook: Actually, no, you're not. We're about to enter your industry. You're totally screwed.
Iovine: Oh, fark!
Quote:
Originally Posted by GTR
Don't worry.
Cook: Jimmy, how you doing?
Iovine: I'm doing pretty fricking good!
Cook: Actually, no, you're not. We're about to enter your industry. You're totally screwed.
Iovine: Oh, fark!
What's the problem with the guy? He looks like a punk, but so what?
Crap headphones with ridiculously hyped bass-response.. ok for wannabees, but I would take my Sennheiser HD650's any day over that crap..
Quote:
Originally Posted by pedromartins
What's the problem with the guy? He looks like a punk, but so what?
I don't know!
Ask Tim Cook!
I'm sure Cook has a lot of meetings--that's what senior executives do. A very small percentage of those meetings actually lead to anything significant product-wise. The popularaity of the Beats products demanded a fact-to-face if either party requested one.
If Tim Cook met with 100 product-pitchers this month and only signed a deal with one of them, it would be in line with an old Steve Jobs quote. I'm paraphrasing, but "It's only by saying no to a hundred ideas that let us focus on the one or two best ones."
But yes, my first mental image was the iPod packaging being huge to accomadate the new bundled headphones...
You forgot that the headphones have the lifetime of a fruit fly. You'd think that if you're going to spend hundreds of dollars on a headphone, the headband wouldn't break so easily.
I've always heard Beats Audio headphones are bad, but is Sennheiser really a good brand? I'm asking.
Sennheiser makes some good headphones.
However, trying to define whether a brand is good or not is doomed to failure. Most companies make a variety of products at different price points and different characteristics. In addition, for headphones, the type of music you listen to has some impact on what constitutes a 'good' set of headphones, as well. Finally, one needs to consider what constitutes 'good'. For some people, it's all about volume. Others go for a solid bass. Others want very good accuracy over any other characteristic. For others, noise rejection is more important.
Properly, one would need to say "which headphones offer the best sound quality (as defined by accuracy) for classical music listening in the $300 range?" Even then, of course, you get into a lot of subjective opinions. In the end, there's really no way to define a 'good' brand overall.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ClemyNX
I've always heard Beats Audio headphones are bad, but is Sennheiser really a good brand? I'm asking.
Jragosta is right about brands. Sennheiser HD650's are particularly good for an open-backed headphone that is more 'accurate' than most. The headphone amplifier you use also makes a HUGE difference to how headphones will sound...
For people listening to 160kbs mp3's I am sure 'beats' are fine.. These people want a 'hyped' ( read 'louder' , 'bassier' ) sound.. which beats provide by putting an additional amp in the headphones along with a ridiculous low-frequency EQ 'bump'. - We all know why they sell..
My HD650's are approaching 7 years old. I need some new earpads.. they are starting to wear.. I can buy spares...
'Beats' are a 'fashion statement' headphone, fine if you are happy with the sound and the rip-off price. :-)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cash907
That's the absolute LAST person anyone serious about the music industry should be meeting with. I hope this is just a rumor.
What are you talking about? Iovine had a major hand in the careers of Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith and others (even Lady Gaga, for what that's worth). He's also a top exec with Universal Music, and (representing Universal) was one of the first to sign on to the original iTunes Music Store. If you get him on board with a music service, the other labels will follow.
It can be argued that he did for over the ear headphones what Apple did for smartphones. He took something uncool made it cool and now being copied by the competition.
I'm glad you're able to get earpads. That's the way headphone companies should support their customers. My daughter's Dr Dre head phones (they were a gift - I wouldn't have bought them). Within a few months, the headband broke. On calling Dr. Dre, they don't have spare parts available for their headphones -at any price. Repair services confirm that. No replacement parts were available for any Dr. Dre headphones.
That's bad enough, but when you consider how fast the bands broke, that's unforgivable.
I have an old pair of Sennheisers. I bought them in '81 or 2 and they're still kicking. I don't remember the model number (I thought it had "440" and in the name, but as I google that, a much newer model comes up.) I think they were one of the early "open-air" headphone designs and seemed very "radical" at the time. I still love them, but I need to get a new cable (the original lasted at least 25 years, but the replacement started to have shorting problems almost immediately. Finally the cable shorted out completely about a year ago. If I could buy (or reuse) the mini plugs that go into the drivers, I'd just make my own cable, but no luck.
Anyway thanks for reminding me to order a new cable!
Quote:
Originally Posted by argonaut
Crap headphones with ridiculously hyped bass-response.. ok for wannabees, but I would take my Sennheiser HD650's any day over that crap..
Quote:
Originally Posted by argonaut
My HD650's are approaching 7 years old. I need some new earpads.. they are starting to wear.. I can buy spares...
The original covers on my (1981?) Sennheisers are still in great shape. But there was a layer of foam padding underneath them (glued to the driver frame?) that degraded into crud. I removed it and replaced the covers, but it has made them considerably less comfortable than they were. I have no idea what the original material was, what it looked like, or how it was shaped, so I'm not exactly sure how to restore them. Just have to experiment, I suppose.