When Dr. Dre sold off Beats Music and the rest of his Beats brand for upwards of three billion dollars, it was assumed that Apple had big plans.
The sort of plans that would allow Beats Music to flourish as is.
However, a report by TechCrunch claimed that the tech giant intends to eventually shut down Beats Music.
The $10 per month streaming service was launched in January by Dre and Jimmy Iovine, known by many for his mentoring work on American Idol.
When word got out that Apple did not add the Beats Music app on the new iPhone 6, it was considered a virtual death knell for the service.
It has also been reported that certain Beats Music engineers have been moved to iTunes-related jobs.
Apple may unveil a new streaming service at the Grammys http://t.co/t9CDpu971l pic.twitter.com/cQvgOxxBaH
— BI: Tech (@SAI) September 23, 2014
For many observers, all signs point to bad things for Beats Music. This has lead to questions regarding what it is that Apple actually wanted with the streaming service.
Did Apple really buy it to simply shut it down in the end?
Apple has since released a response to ongoing rumors about the fate of Beats Music.
Tom Neumayr, PR representative for Apple, told Recode that the report by TechCrunch was simply “not true”.
Beat it? Apple may rebrand Beats Music http://t.co/dvJ9lrgciG via @YiannCh | https://t.co/0uEb6NQKAU pic.twitter.com/x8UVP3emIc
— Ioannis Chaidoulis (@YiannCh) September 24, 2014
Although Neumayr wouldn’t explain why the report wasn’t true, there have been theories made as to what it is Apple intends to do with the Beats Music brand.
One prevailing belief is that Apple won’t simply shut Beats Music down. Instead, the service will be phased into Apple’s existing products overtime. Some believe it will eventually be linked to iTunes.
Brett Golden, who is the president and co-founder of The Chart Lab, also went on record with his belief as to what Apple intends to do to Beats Music.
Said Golden, “Now that I see this, it’s telling me that Apple doesn’t really want any outside brands.”
This makes sense. Beats is a globally known name, just like Apple. They are distinct and hardly interchangeable.
#Apple may be getting ready to sunset #Beats. 5 things the company should do with #iTunes. http://t.co/yvpMTj8cA3 pic.twitter.com/ersairFZOE
— Gigaom (@gigaom) September 23, 2014
It could be that Apple simply wants the product and not the attached name.
As disappointed as some fans may be that the end could be near for Beats Music, we’ll have to wait and see what Apple truly has in store for the brand.