Dr. Dre, Tyrese share Heineken-fueled celebration of Apple's alleged Beats acquisition

Posted:
in General Discussion edited May 2014
In a video initially posted to Facebook and subsequently pulled, West Coast rappers Dr. Dre -- the cofounder of Beats Electronics -- and Tyrese appear to be celebrating the rumored sale of Dre's headphone brand to Apple, seeming to confirm that the deal is legitimate.


Dr. Dre and LeBron James wearing Beats.


Proclaiming Dre "the first billionaire in hip hop," the video was originally released on Tyrese's Facebook page, captioned thusly:
"How did I end up in the studio with Dr Dre ON THE night his deal went public that he did with Apple 3.2 BILLION!!!!! The BEATS HEADPHONES JUST CHANGED HIP HOP!!!!!!"
Word that Apple was nearing a $3.2 billion acquisition of Beats broke late Thursday afternoon. It was quickly followed by a rumor that Beats CEO and Universal Music Group chairman Jimmy Iovine was in talks to join Apple as a "special advisor" to CEO Tim Cook.

Note: The video embedded below includes profanity.



According to reports, Apple would control both the Beats headphone business and its new streaming music service. Many industry observers have expressed skepticism, however, that either of those rumors are legitimate.

Beats is not thought to have much in the way of proprietary technology, generally the driver of acquisitions for Apple. The company's streaming music rights are also unlikely to be transferable, meaning they would need to be renegotiated regardless of the deal's structure.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 164
    red oakred oak Posts: 1,087member
    What clowns

    What a terrible deal by Apple
  • Reply 2 of 164
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    red oak wrote: »
    What clowns

    What a terrible deal by Apple
    Has Cook and the board lost their minds? This is really making me think hard about the Apple stock I currently hold. Don't do it Tim! :no:
  • Reply 3 of 164
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    red oak wrote: »
    What clowns

    What a terrible deal by Apple

    Where did you read they made the deal? Link?
  • Reply 4 of 164
    pazuzupazuzu Posts: 1,728member
    God help us.
  • Reply 5 of 164
    applesauce007applesauce007 Posts: 1,698member
    This is awesome!

    Some people just don't understand the kind of media connections iTunes is getting in this deal...

    Jimmy Iovine is a senior executive at Vivendi Universal Music Group.
    Beats investor Carlyle Group / Len Blatvatnik recently bought Warner Music Group.
    Vivendi owns about 14% of Beats.

    iTunes is about to become the biggest money maker for Apple.
    iTunes will own the global music industry if they didn't already. :)
    Wake up people. This is huge for Apple.

    As soon as Apple closes this deal and really takes it Global, it will be worth 10 times more.
  • Reply 6 of 164
    red oakred oak Posts: 1,087member
    It is the first I'm really questioning Tim's judgement

    It's hard for me to think of a worst fit in terms of company culture, product, and business strategy. It fails in all three
  • Reply 7 of 164
    Beats does $1.5 billion a year in sales.

    Beats Streaming is the best streaming app & service around.

    Apple gets a successful brand name, significant cash flow, and the ability to go toe-to-toe on streaming with a superior service.

    One last thing: the rumored selling price is the same amount Google spent for fricking NEST! Which do you think is a better deal and a better fit?

    What's the complaining about again? ;)
  • Reply 8 of 164
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    Apple should really rethink this. Unless it has some out-of-the-ballpark explanation of a broad vision and strategy that goes with any such announcement. To me, this falls into the same realm as Google-Nest

    Otherwise, the market is going to react quite badly to this. Not because of the amount involved (which is a rounding error), but because of what it will infer -- rightly or wrongly -- about the company's strategy (or lack of it).
  • Reply 10 of 164
    roxsocksroxsocks Posts: 22member
    I'm not seeing the benefit very clearly.

    Beats doesn't own patents (as far as I know). They have a brand. Their streaming business is okay, but Apple has a gargantuan business already established in that area.

    Perhaps Apple wants the brand? Couldn't be profits since they're selling their gear in their store already, and the margins may not be high enough.

    Perhaps it's to steal the tech away from PC and smartphone competition tie-ins? I think Apple would make more by improving the tech and leasing it. Locking it up for themselves does make a difference in profits. They're just out $3.2B

    Apple's culture is heavily tied with music. I can't see what's so special about the beats brand that would motivate an acquisition when there are other brands and technology out there. Why not aquire Pandora? Also, for a couple hundred million, Apple could start it's own record label and make more profit from that.

    I guess time will tell where Apple will go with this.
  • Reply 11 of 164
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    What's the complaining about again?

    Profanity for one.
  • Reply 12 of 164
    bloggerblogbloggerblog Posts: 2,462member

    Apple may pull the contract after watching this video

  • Reply 13 of 164
    roxsocksroxsocks Posts: 22member
    Beats does $1.5 billion a year in sales.

    Sales and profit are different. Just ask samsung.
  • Reply 14 of 164

    Why is it such a tragedy? I think Apple executive are in a better position to judge than random fans/ insignificant shareholders

  • Reply 15 of 164
    massconn72massconn72 Posts: 162member

    I may be wrong, but I am sure that I read a review of the headphones and it said they pretty much suck. Just because they are the "in" thing doesn't mean Apple needs to buy it. 

  • Reply 16 of 164
    colinjcolinj Posts: 4member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Red Oak View Post



    It's hard for me to think of a worst fit in terms of company culture, product, and business strategy. It fails in all three

     

    I can't really comment on culture, as I've never worked at either Beats or Apple, but it doesn't seem such a bad fit to me.

     

    In terms of product, both companies design, manufacture and distribute portable electronics. Apple has long specialised in music since the iPod, and its stores feature Beats products (headphones and speaker docks, including wireless speakers).

     

    In terms of business strategy, both companies marry hardware and online music services. In Apple's case, iOS devices and iTunes, in Beats' case, headphones/speakers and online music streaming. 

     

    Whilst Beats products have often been derided by the 'audiophile' community, some of us actually seek out headphones with bass heavy response. I tend to listen to electronic music over classical, and prefer the low end response of the Beats headphones, something that I've struggled to get with other brands. And I've owned a pair of Beats Tour edition in-ear buds for over three years now, which despite being tossed in a bag every day (without the case) have held up just fine, which is more than can be said for the many Sennheiser's I've replaced over the years. 

     

    I guess we'll find out in early course if this deal is genuine, and how exactly Apple will benefit, but from a product and strategy standpoint the companies strike me as very similar. 

  • Reply 17 of 164
    mattbookairmattbookair Posts: 172member
    One thing I've noticed whenever entering an Apple Store. After Apple products, the most square footage is occupied by headphones. That means they sell, and Apple knows which ones sell best. Why not make all the profit, instead of being just the middle man for someone else? It also fits, as has been pointed out, with the intersection of fashion and tech ... this is where Apple excels, and something they intend to build on, with the hiring of Ahrendts.

    I agree, 3.2B is a lot (and this video doesn't confirm that figure). But I'm not sure this is quite as silly as it seems. I agree the Dr. Dre phones aren't great (other Beats models are better though). But I'm sure Apple has some pretty interesting plans if they're investing these sums.
  • Reply 18 of 164
    alcstarheelalcstarheel Posts: 554member
    Figured this video would get some interesting comments. Seems AI wants to promote this video as reason why AAPL should not buy Beats. This is not the best video to post to show what the brand is about.

    Personally, I don't think Cook should make this deal as I don't see the value for the company. AAPL can negotiate its own contracts for music streaming whenever they want they just want to bring in the music purchasing revenue as much as possible. Besides headphone tech I don't see what Beats provides. Unless they have something in the works that Cook is privvy of. Still doesn't warrant $3.2b to me.
  • Reply 19 of 164
    applesauce007applesauce007 Posts: 1,698member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by PhilBoogie View Post





    Profanity for one.

     

    Oh please...  Grow up!  Will you?

  • Reply 20 of 164
    gqbgqb Posts: 1,934member
    Hmmm. Why does the tone of most of the panic stricken posts here and elsewhere on this subject remind me of the right wing's feelings about the president?
    What is similar?... What could it be?
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