Google feels sting of Apple's Beats acquisition, buys Songza

Not one to sit around and wait what Apple and Beats have in store for streaming music fans, Google's gone off and pulled the trigger on Songza. The music streaming and reccomendation service uses playlists created by 'music experts'  such as DJ's and music critics and tries to suit playlists to user's moods. Songza charges a US $ 0.99 weekly fee for ad free version of its service.

A post on Songza's blog states, "Today, we’re thrilled to announce that we’re becoming part of Google. We can’t think of a better company to join in our quest to provide the perfect soundtrack for everything you do. No immediate changes to Songza are planned, other than making it faster, smarter, and even more fun to use." It will be interesting to see what plans Google has of monetizing Songza as well as how they will position it against other popular streaming music services and its own Google Play Music service.

Source: Songza

FIFA bans Beats headphones from World Cup stadiums

While football players have been seen to use Beats headphones during their downtime, don’t expect to see them carry those cans on the field. FIFA has banned the use of Beats headphones at 2014 World Cup because of licensing reasons. Sony is one of the biggest sponsors of the games. Players will not be allowed to take their Beats headphones to the stadiums or when they attend media events for the games.

But this plan might be even more advantageous for Beats. Marketing strategist Ellen Petry Leanse told Reuters that the company’s message might come off as more authentic or credible because they aren’t an official sponsor. 

Beats Music will still be available on Android and Windows Phone

Apple has a tendency to shut down services after they acquire a certain company. But they seem to be taking a different approach with their Beats acquisition. Tim Cook confirmed to the Financial Times that the Beats Music app will continue to be available for Android and Windows Phone users because “it’s all about the music.” We’re not sure how long this will last but for the meantime Beats Music users can still enjoy the service on their non-iOS devices.

Beats Music will still be available on Android and Windows Phone after the deal, @Tim_Cook tells @FT. "It’s all about music." Story @FT soon

— Tim Bradshaw (@tim) May 28, 2014

Source: The Verge

It's official, Apple buys Beats for $3 billion, Iovine and Dr. Dre to join Apple

So, the premature celebration a few weeks ago was sort of merited. Apple has bought the Beats Music streaming service as well as Beats Electronics, which makes those insanely popular headphones. The deal cost Apple US $3 billion but aside from the established Beats brand and cache of hipness, they also get two of the most powerful players in the entertainment industry. Rap mogul and pioneer Dr. Dre as well as industry impresario Jimmy Iovine. 

“Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “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.” It will be interesting to see if the Beats brand will continue or if it will be turned into an Apple product. Hit jump for the full details of this blockbuster acquisition.

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