No proof that you accept. If Apple are buying a company for $3B partially because of it's streaming service what does that tell you about the in house development and management of the existing streaming service?
If they then make the manager of the acquired service the manager of the unified steaming service. What does that tell you?
Exactly. Google didn't need to spend $3B to develop a Spotify competitor. Does music "curation" really cost $3B?
I recall seeing a picture of Steve, Phil, Scott, Jony, Eddie and Tony. I am uncertain if Tim was in it or not. Steve is gone (rest his soul). Tony is gone. Scott is gone. People are aching for Eddie and Phil to be gone. Jony must be sweating right now.
1) Eddy cue was in charge of iTunes Radio.
2) It didn't work out. Wasn't a success.
3) Apple buys a company in - the most expensive in their history - In part to better this service, and removes Cue from position of iTunes Radio head.
TS believes there is nothing to see here. Most people would see it as a wake up call.
(He was in charge of too much to be fair. )
iTunes Radio was not a success by whose measurements? Just because ITunes Radio did not destroy Pandora and Spotify does not mean it failed. How many listeners will it take for iTunes Radio to be a success in your eyes? I have seen and listened to improvements in iTunes Radio from the first day it became available.
Eddie Cue got Apple from nowhere to where it is today. It ranks well against the more established competitors. Now someone new is coming in to take iTunes Radio to a higher level. There should be no doubt Eddie will be learning from the new guy.
As for prepping for retirement, I think many of the people who have gotten Apple where it is today is training others to take over the company and keep it running as smoothly as possible.
Why just point out Eddy Cue? How about everyone who did not get any stage time? Obviously, the star of the show was Craig. His leadership work will be the face of Apple's products in the coming months. And, he is busting ass (and hair) to get the front-end working as well as possible.
Because cue has been on stage in the past to discuss iCloud/App Store. I'm sure it means nothing more than Apple wanted a tight event with as few speakers as possible (in stark contrast to Google I/O which has tons of speakers and goes on for far to long).
iTunes Radio was not a success by whose measurements? Just because ITunes Radio did not destroy Pandora and Spotify does not mean it failed. How many listeners will it take for iTunes Radio to be a success in your eyes? I have seen and listened to improvements in iTunes Radio from the first day it became available.
How about this. iTunes Radio would have been a success for Apple if they didn't have to buy in another company to replace the service.
Do you seriously think that you would be making this argument if Samsung tried their hand at a radio service and then spent $3B buying another?
Agreed. No proof. Rogifan tends to write words she cannot and will not back up.
Would you not agree that Cue has a lot on his plate and perhaps splitting up content from backend/maps/Siri might be a good idea? I think iTunes/AppStore/Apple TV could easily be a full time job. Same with iCloud/Maps/Siri.
Uh. Wasn't a success!? What the hell are you talking about? In less than a year it's become the second largest streaming service. Please don't say it because they couldn't catch up to Pandora... Pandora is available on other platforms, so there's no way iTunes Radio will ever reach the same numbers.
Uh. Wasn't a success!? What the hell are you talking about? In less than a year it's become the second largest streaming service. Please don't say it because they couldn't catch up to Pandora... Pandora is available on other platforms, so there's no way iTunes Radio will ever reach the same numbers.
Pandora isn't installed on every android device. People have to search for and download it. In the US Apple have an iOS installed base - including the touch and iPad - which is probably equal to or more than the Android installed base. With that running start iTunes Radio has not done well.
But don't take my word for it. Look at what Apple did - they bought in a streaming service and replaced the existing manager.
"Rogers made his bones in the music industry as a website developer for the Beastie Boys, eventually being hired by Yahoo to lead the portal's music division."
See? Web development isn't necessarily a dead-end job after all!
I took it as going to work for a wacky niche white thrash rap trio isn't a bad career move.
Uh. Wasn't a success!? What the hell are you talking about? In less than a year it's become the second largest streaming service. Please don't say it because they couldn't catch up to Pandora... Pandora is available on other platforms, so there's no way iTunes Radio will ever reach the same numbers.
Ok Apple now hire someone to oversee Apple TV so we can finally get a new product there. Let Eddy focus on back end stuff like iCloud, maps and Siri.
I'd say that the TV industry is 99.95% back-end work. As in negotiating contracts like Apple's multi-terabit Comcast content delivery agreement, streamlining the purchasing and renting experience, building out iCloud data centers in North Carolina and Nevada and Oregon, and all that crucial behind-the scenes heavy lifting. You know, the kind of stuff Eddy gets done.
The Apple TV hardware is comparatively trivial. Not even the tip of the iceberg. It's just a few snowflakes dusting the tip of the iceberg. I wouldn't be surprised if the next-gen Apple TV hardware was finalized years ago. Just waiting for all that other more difficult server software development, hardware infrastructure build-out, and distribution deals etc. to be completed.
To those arguing against the success of iTunes Radio, it is adding 20 million active listeners every 4 months. By January 2015, it could have 80 million active subscribers in the USA and Australia, roughly the same as Pandora in these markets.
Beats Music is not a radio service. Beats Music and iTunes Radio are like apples and oranges; they serve different markets that rely on different listening experiences. More people (the average consumer) are interested in the free low-maintenance radio experience versus spending money and time building playlists or picking an album from a vast music library.
To those arguing against the success of iTunes Radio, it is adding 20 million active listeners every 4 months. By January 2015, it could have 80 million active subscribers in the USA and Australia, roughly the same as Pandora in these markets.
But iTunes' problem is that while it has the Apple Juggernaut behind it it really is not perceived as the cool place to get music. It's just there, and as noted in your face when you buy a Mac. A company like Pandora, Spotify, et al making the headway they did in the time they did would have been unheard of 5 years previously. From what I see all around me I simply do not see iTunes currently as the big gorilla in the room anymore, and that's how Apple functions best, and they know it. The numbers telling the tale of what was happening last months exactly what Apple has never used as evidence of anything as what they care about is aiming at a target 5 years from now that no one can even see is there.
Actually, this is why Rogers is spot on what they need. He is actually credited as literally being the one of the first to enable mp3s to be downloaded from an artist's website in the mid '90s, as well as constantly updated new audio and visual media for Beastie Boys fans. No one else had ever thought anyone would care or go to a site daily to see what music and images had shown up since 24 hours ago and download content every day. He's Apple's type of forward thinker.
Apple should have bought that one headphone company that makes 1 billion a year. Heck they would have gotten Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre as part of the package!!
Google didn't need to spend $3B to develop a Spotify competitor. Does music "curation" really cost $3B?
Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't.
In any case, Apple did not pay $3B for music curation. If I recall correctly. Apple assigned a valuation of $2.5B for Beats Electronics (the hardware side of the business) and $500M for the Beats Music streaming service side of the business.
Note that Pandora Media has a current market capitalization of over $5 billion. Their stock (NYSE:P) is well off their 52-week high of over $40/share; at the time, their market cap was $8.25B.
Comments
iTunes Radio was not a success by whose measurements? Just because ITunes Radio did not destroy Pandora and Spotify does not mean it failed. How many listeners will it take for iTunes Radio to be a success in your eyes? I have seen and listened to improvements in iTunes Radio from the first day it became available.
Eddie Cue got Apple from nowhere to where it is today. It ranks well against the more established competitors. Now someone new is coming in to take iTunes Radio to a higher level. There should be no doubt Eddie will be learning from the new guy.
As for prepping for retirement, I think many of the people who have gotten Apple where it is today is training others to take over the company and keep it running as smoothly as possible.
It wasn't. As any sane person who read my post could see I then - in the bits you didn't quote - I explained my reasoning.
If this is the extent of your argument, you may as well stop posting.
I had three (related) points, they were helpfully enumerated . Feel free to rebut the points rather than selective quotes, and wry commentary.
How about this. iTunes Radio would have been a success for Apple if they didn't have to buy in another company to replace the service.
Do you seriously think that you would be making this argument if Samsung tried their hand at a radio service and then spent $3B buying another?
Give over. Cue failed to deliver.
Not sure about that.
http://kensegall.com/2014/06/apples-marketing-rethink-not-exactly-a-surprise/
2) It didn't work out. Wasn't a success.
Uh. Wasn't a success!? What the hell are you talking about? In less than a year it's become the second largest streaming service. Please don't say it because they couldn't catch up to Pandora... Pandora is available on other platforms, so there's no way iTunes Radio will ever reach the same numbers.
Pandora isn't installed on every android device. People have to search for and download it. In the US Apple have an iOS installed base - including the touch and iPad - which is probably equal to or more than the Android installed base. With that running start iTunes Radio has not done well.
But don't take my word for it. Look at what Apple did - they bought in a streaming service and replaced the existing manager.
"Rogers made his bones in the music industry as a website developer for the Beastie Boys, eventually being hired by Yahoo to lead the portal's music division."
See? Web development isn't necessarily a dead-end job after all!
I took it as going to work for a wacky niche white thrash rap trio isn't a bad career move.
At least in 1995.
Uh. Wasn't a success!? What the hell are you talking about? In less than a year it's become the second largest streaming service. Please don't say it because they couldn't catch up to Pandora... Pandora is available on other platforms, so there's no way iTunes Radio will ever reach the same numbers.
Second largest? In what; one country?
Ok Apple now hire someone to oversee Apple TV so we can finally get a new product there. Let Eddy focus on back end stuff like iCloud, maps and Siri.
I'd say that the TV industry is 99.95% back-end work. As in negotiating contracts like Apple's multi-terabit Comcast content delivery agreement, streamlining the purchasing and renting experience, building out iCloud data centers in North Carolina and Nevada and Oregon, and all that crucial behind-the scenes heavy lifting. You know, the kind of stuff Eddy gets done.
The Apple TV hardware is comparatively trivial. Not even the tip of the iceberg. It's just a few snowflakes dusting the tip of the iceberg. I wouldn't be surprised if the next-gen Apple TV hardware was finalized years ago. Just waiting for all that other more difficult server software development, hardware infrastructure build-out, and distribution deals etc. to be completed.
Your argument contradicts all reality. So yes, you’ve failed.
To those arguing against the success of iTunes Radio, it is adding 20 million active listeners every 4 months. By January 2015, it could have 80 million active subscribers in the USA and Australia, roughly the same as Pandora in these markets.
But iTunes' problem is that while it has the Apple Juggernaut behind it it really is not perceived as the cool place to get music. It's just there, and as noted in your face when you buy a Mac. A company like Pandora, Spotify, et al making the headway they did in the time they did would have been unheard of 5 years previously. From what I see all around me I simply do not see iTunes currently as the big gorilla in the room anymore, and that's how Apple functions best, and they know it. The numbers telling the tale of what was happening last months exactly what Apple has never used as evidence of anything as what they care about is aiming at a target 5 years from now that no one can even see is there.
Actually, this is why Rogers is spot on what they need. He is actually credited as literally being the one of the first to enable mp3s to be downloaded from an artist's website in the mid '90s, as well as constantly updated new audio and visual media for Beastie Boys fans. No one else had ever thought anyone would care or go to a site daily to see what music and images had shown up since 24 hours ago and download content every day. He's Apple's type of forward thinker.
wow is that what Beats is!??
Apple should have bought that one headphone company that makes 1 billion a year. Heck they would have gotten Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre as part of the package!!
P.S. Good thing this new Beats guy is white.
Google didn't need to spend $3B to develop a Spotify competitor. Does music "curation" really cost $3B?
Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't.
In any case, Apple did not pay $3B for music curation. If I recall correctly. Apple assigned a valuation of $2.5B for Beats Electronics (the hardware side of the business) and $500M for the Beats Music streaming service side of the business.
Note that Pandora Media has a current market capitalization of over $5 billion. Their stock (NYSE:P) is well off their 52-week high of over $40/share; at the time, their market cap was $8.25B.
The hardware side of Beats is quite profitable.