iTunes Hits New Milestones, Will Help Leverage Growth of Beats’ 250,000 Subscriber Base

Speaking at today’s Re/code Code Conference, Apple’s SVP of internet services Eddy Cue and Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine shared some new numbers on iTunes and Beats Music in the wake of today’s acquisition.

Apple internet chief Eddy Cue (left) and Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine (right)
Cue mentioned that the iTunes Store and iTunes Radio hit new milestones, with the former selling its 35 billionth song and the latter now including over 40 million listeners around the world.

Speaking on the newly formed relationship between Apple and Beats, Cue noted that Apple’s great rapport with artists, data on listening habits, and 800 million iTunes accounts with credit cards attached contributes a great deal. “We think all of those things, when you put them all together, it’s on steroids with us together,” he expressed.

Meanwhile, Iovine announced that Beats Music, currently limited to the U.S., now has 250,000 subscribers since it launched three months ago. A report earlier this month pegged the service’s subscriber base at just 110,000 during the month of March, illustrating how the service has grown since then. By contrast, rival music streaming service Spotify reported earlier this month that it has 10 million paying subscribers worldwide.

Iovine added that Beats made a mistake by not offering in-app purchases from the start, and stated that 5 million people have “visited” the service since it launched. After today’s announcement, the Beats Music iOS app was updated with an extended 14-day trial period and a price drop to its yearly subscription to $100 from $120.

‘Beats Music’ to Remain on Android and Windows Smartphones [iOS Blog]

At Re/code’s inaugural Code Conference, Apple SVP of Internet Services Eddy Cue confirmed that Beats Music will remain available on Android and Windows Phone after Apple’s acquisition of the company. This will make Beats Music Apple’s first app for a non-iOS smartphone platform.

Some of these things, like iMessage, are really integrated deeply into the hardware. Those types of opportunites are more difficult to do with other other hardware, but we’ll keep providing some services to other platforms. Like Beats, for instance. It’s on Android now and we want to keep it that way.

In March, Billboard reported that Apple was considering launching an iTunes app for Android in an effort to take advantage of Android’s large marketshare to increase declining music sales.

Beats Music is available for free on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Apple Will Not Debut New iMac, 8GB iPhone 5s at WWDC

Notable Apple journalist Jim Dalrymple — known for his “Yep” and “Nope” confirmations on Apple rumors — today indicated that Apple will not be introducing a new iMac or a lower-capacity 8GB iPhone at Monday’s Worldwide Developers Conference.

Dalrymple’s most recent “Nope” is in response to a report from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who suggested earlier today that Apple would debut both hardware products at WWDC. According to Kuo, Apple had plans to launch an 8GB iPhone designed for emerging markets and a lower-cost iMac.

While an iMac update might not be imminent, there have been a few hints that a refresh is in the works for a later date, including a reference to new iMac models in the OS X 10.9.4 beta released to developers today.

It remains unclear whether the eventual iMac update will include a price drop, but it is not out of the question given the $100 price cut on the recently updated MacBook Airs.

Eddy Cue: Best Product Pipeline in 25 Years Coming Later This Year From Apple

While it has been a slow start for Apple’s product launches thus far in 2014, its flagship iPhone and iPad launches are still to come and it looks like there may be considerably more in the works. That conclusion is based on the level of anticipation shared by Apple’s Internet Software and Services chief Eddy Cue at today’s Code Conference, as related in a live blog from The Verge.

Walt Mossberg, Kara Swisher, Eddy Cue, Jimmy Iovine (Source: The Verge)
During a session in which Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher sat down with Cue and Beats CEO Jimmy Iovine to discuss the just confirmed deal and other topics, Swisher asked Cue about how Tim Cook is as a leader.

Cue responded with some of the usual compliments said about Cook: thoroughness, vision, care, and focus. And as if anticipating a follow-up question about when we will see those qualities having more of an impact on Apple’s product pipeline, Cue set a high bar for the remainder of this year:

“Later this year, we’ve got the best product pipeline that I’ve seen in my 25 years at Apple.”

Cue declined to elaborate on that pipeline, noting only that the products will unsurprisingly be “great”.

The first hints of Apple’s plans for the remainder of 2014 are likely to be revealed next Monday during the keynote at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference, where Apple executives are expected to show off OS X 10.10, iOS 8, a “smart home” initiative, and likely some hardware, although it is unclear how significant those hardware announcements will be.

This is why Apple bought Beats

Ever since the rumors first broke that Apple wanted to buy Beats for $3 billion, the masses have uttered one universal word: Why? Apple Senior VP Eddy Cue and Beats CEO and co-founder Jimmy Iovine sat down with Recode’s Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the Code Conference to discuss the confirmed news. Not wasting any time, the execs got right into it. According to Cue, there were three overall reasons why the company made the deal: Talent, great headphones (something many folks will debate) and Beats Music.

“It was a no-brainer for us,” said Cue, outlining the three reasons in more detail. First, Cue says the Beats team is sensational, and will be a perfect fit for Apple; additionally, Dr. Dre is an incredible artist with an incredible ear. Second, Cue notes that Beats has great headphones that do a great job at making music sound good. (He also revealed that Apple’s interested in speakers as well as headphones.) Finally, he also mentioned that this is the “first music subscription service done right.” To Cue, the magic is in the ability to curate songs and listen to playlists.

On Jimmy Iovine’s side, selling Beats was all about the billions finding a company that has a strong respect for music, and does a solid job of making its hardware sound good. “These guys get it,” Iovine said. “They respect what we do. They respect copyright. They respect the entire food chain.” Of course, the idea of having a base of 800 million subscribers (compared its current status at 250,000) is likely rather encouraging to him as well. “Our dream is that everyone in the world who buys a phone” will upgrade their headphones, Iovine said.

Iovine also discussed the fact that Beats originally sold part of its business to phone maker HTC, because it needed a partner, but apparently the culture clashed and the deal ultimately didn’t work out for either side. When asked why they didn’t approach Apple, Iovine revealed that he’d tried to ask several times over the past decade, but “Apple makes deals the way they make products,” making a slow whirring motion with his fingers.

Cue confirmed that Apple will retain the Beats brand, and that Iovine will report to him on the music side and Apple SVP Phil Schiller on the product side. Additionally, the deal that Beats had with HP will be done in the near future, though Iovine didn’t go into detail on exactly when this will happen. If you’re hoping that Iovine will produce content for Apple as part of the deal, no luck: He confirmed that he won’t be focusing on his own stuff anymore.

Iovine mentioned that he initially approached Apple, not the other way around, although the two companies have been in contact for the last decade. “I told Eddy, ‘we should work together, I’ve got some ideas.’ How does somebody date for ten years and all of a sudden you get married? It just happens!”

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Apple

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