Best of Recent Apple/Beats Coverage In The Absence Of Actual Merger Activity
Apple and Beats are, of course, continuing with their respective businesses with a lot of merger activity ahead. But since the Apple/Beats combo is such big news we're all going to continue to write about it until there is news. And then we'll write some more. The following three topics caught my eye over the last few days: Beats' World Cup short, inside sources on arrogant Apple managers and what about Dre?
Beats by Dre's Short Film/Long Ad for the World Cup
Beats by Dre leads us into the World Cup with "The Game Before The Game," a short film/long ad that features athletes and artists in preparation for the big event while wearing Beats' headphones.
Beats by Dre | The Game Before The Game
The campaign's getting glowing business coverage. Here's more from AdWeek including movie style posters for various stars from the short.
And now that Jimmy Iovine's getting set to take over the tech game, the backstory for such a campaign must include the hit picker and his "secret iPod with all of the secret music on it."
Though for sheer CEO mythologizing, this piece on will.i.am's role in Beats goes much further in helping set the stage for Iovine's next moves.
"'Arrogant' Apple Managers Are The Reason Apple Needs Beats"
In the obligatory "Apple is fucked up and Beats will save it" category is a fun piece from BuzzFeed.
Highlights include:
"Past and current employees in the company with direct knowledge of iTunes and Apple’s services Ping and iTunes Radio told BuzzFeed that Apple engineers involved with those [streaming] products often preferred to use Spotify and Pandora."
"The biggest reason why Ping failed was because Apple was not interested in making a network — they were interested in making a purchase pusher."
"Apple employees confirmed that management actively ignored iTunes’ streaming competitors, with some managers refusing to open or use Spotify."
"One source said that as recently 'as last year,' some members of management didn’t even know that Spotify was an on-demand streaming service, assuming it was just a radio service."
Words fail me.
"What Steve Jobs and Dr. Dre Have in Common"???
The Steve Jobs comparison falls flat in this piece from WSJ.com but it does get one things right, Dr. Dre is known for his work ethic. He spends a lot of time in the studio and is a hardcore perfectionist.
Arguably his perfectionism is what kept Dr. Dre from releasing an album of his own for a number of years after "The Chronic." Reports of him working on the follow-up went on for years with the biggest problem being that topping or even equaling "The Chronic" is likely impossible. To date Dr. Dre has been unable to complete another album of his own that has similar significance.
That said, he's had an incredibly productive career as a producer, helping bring Eminem to the masses and working with a wide array of contemporary stars.
But he's no Steve Jobs and vice versa.
[Thumbnail image of Beats by Dre x Snarkitecture limited edition collab.]
More:
- Beats Never Mentioned At Yesterday's Apple Event, But Dre Got A Phone Call
- The Latest Beats Apple Rumors Worth Paying Attention To
- Beats Music CEO Ian Rogers Largely Missing From Apple Acquisition Coverage
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch) also blogs at DanceLand. To suggest topics about music tech, DIY biz or marketing for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
