AppleInsider Staff
In a video initially posted to Facebook and subsequently pulled, West Coast rappers Dr. Dre — the cofounder of Beats Electronics — and Tyrese appear to be celebrating the rumored sale of Dre's headphone brand to Apple, seeming to confirm that the deal is legitimate.
"How did I end up in the studio with Dr Dre ON THE night his deal went public that he did with Apple 3.2 BILLION!!!!! The BEATS HEADPHONES JUST CHANGED HIP HOP!!!!!!"
Word that Apple was nearing a $3.2 billion acquisition of Beats broke late Thursday afternoon. It was quickly followed by a rumor that Beats CEO and Universal Music Group chairman Jimmy Iovine was in talks to join Apple as a "special advisor" to CEO Tim Cook.
Note: The video embedded below includes profanity.
According to reports, Apple would control both the Beats headphone business and its new streaming music service. Many industry observers have expressed skepticism, however, that either of those rumors are legitimate.
Beats is not thought to have much in the way of proprietary technology, generally the driver of acquisitions for Apple. The company's streaming music rights are also unlikely to be transferable, meaning they would need to be renegotiated regardless of the deal's structure.
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164 Comments
What clowns What a terrible deal by Apple
[quote name="Red Oak" url="/t/179342/dr-dre-tyrese-share-heineken-fueled-celebration-of-apples-alleged-beats-acquisition#post_2530245"]What clowns What a terrible deal by Apple[/quote] Has Cook and the board lost their minds? This is really making me think hard about the Apple stock I currently hold. Don't do it Tim! :no:
[quote name="Red Oak" url="/t/179342/dr-dre-tyrese-share-heineken-fueled-celebration-of-apples-alleged-beats-acquisition#post_2530245"]What clowns What a terrible deal by Apple[/quote] Where did you read they made the deal? Link?
God help us.
This is awesome! Some people just don't understand the kind of media connections iTunes is getting in this deal... Jimmy Iovine is a senior executive at Vivendi Universal Music Group. Beats investor Carlyle Group / Len Blatvatnik recently bought Warner Music Group. Vivendi owns about 14% of Beats. iTunes is about to become the biggest money maker for Apple. iTunes will own the global music industry if they didn't already. :) Wake up people. This is huge for Apple. As soon as Apple closes this deal and really takes it Global, it will be worth 10 times more.