Bestätigt: Apple kauft Beats Music und Beats Electronics

Wir hatten die hartnäckigen Gerüchte bereits mehrfach erwähnt, jetzt ist es offiziell: Apple kauft Beats Music und Beats Electronics für ca. 3 Milliarden Dollar. Hierbei handelt es sich um den größten Einkauf in Apples Firmengeschichte, inklusive des 400 Millionen Dollar Kaufs von NeXT im Jahre 1996, der Steve Jobs zurück in die Firma brachte.

Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple. That’s why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world. (Tim Cook)

Die beiden Gründer Jimmy Iovine und Dr. Dre werden von Apple übernommen. Neben den bekannten Lifestyle Kopfhörern dürfte vor allem auch der im Januar gestartete Music Streaming Dienst Beats Music für Apple von Interesse sein, um dem rückläufigen iTunes Musikgeschäft entgegen zu wirken.

(Bild: Paul Sakuma/Apple)

UPDATE:

Laut der offiziellen Pressemitteilung wird ‚Beats‘ als separate Marke fortgeführt, inklusive der Kopfhörer. Tim Cook sagte in einem Interview mit der Financial Times, dass sowohl die Android als auch die Windows Phone App weiterhin verfügbar bleiben.

“It’s not one thing that excites us here. It’s the people. It’s the service. It’s all about the music.” (Tim Cook)

In einem Brief an die Mitarbeiter erläutert Tim Cook, warum dieser Deal so wichtig für Apple sei.

Apple’s history in music began with selling Macs to musicians. That remains important to us today, but we also bring music to hundreds of millions of customers with iTunes, which is at the forefront of the digital music revolution. Music holds a special place in our hearts at Apple, and we know that we can make an even bigger contribution to something that is so important to our society. That’s why we have kept investing in music and why we’re bringing together these extraordinary teams — so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world.

Beats co-founders and music industry pioneers Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will join Apple, along with their team of employees. Jimmy has been on the cutting edge of innovation in the music industry for decades, including as a key partner for Apple in the launch of the iTunes Music Store more than ten years ago. He has produced or collaborated with some of the most popular artists in history, and been an important contributor to the success of the iTunes Store.

Beats Music was built with deep respect for both artists and fans. We think it’s the first subscription service to really get it right. Both Apple and Beats believe that a great music service requires a strong editorial and curation team, and we will continue to expand what we do in those areas. The addition of Beats will make our incredible iTunes lineup even better, extending the emotional connection our customers have with music.