Late To The Party, Iovine In Talks To Launch Beats Daisy Music Service With AT&T
It's not often that Interscope head and Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine is late an important party. But when it comes to streaming music, Iovine and Beats' yet to launch Daisy subscription service is arriving after a long line of competitors. So before Daisy exits beta, Iovine is looking for a heavyweight partner. He may have found one in AT&T.
Iovine is in high level talks with AT&T to bundle Daisy with the mobile provider's data plans, according to a CNet report. Such a partnership could net Beats many subscribers very quickly. Though talks are still ongoing, the current sticking point is how much free music to offer for how long and who – Beats, the labels or AT&T – would cover the cost.
Iovine has already built a strong foundation upon which to launch Daisy. He hired Ian Rogers away from Topspin, made Trent Reznor creative director and purchased MOG's music service last year. Iovine is also promising top level curators to serve as music quides.
But competitors from Spotify and Rhapsody to Google and Rdio got to the party much earlier, and are not likely to leave without a fight.
Songza is doing some very interesting things in regards to monetization, I can’t wait until Jimmy/Ian unveils the model and deeper insights around the curation side of things.