Let Me Ride: Has Dr. Dre become the richest name in Hip-Hop because of an acquisition of Beats by Apple?
By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
The past 24-hours have been all about the rumor that Apple is buying Beats for a whopping US $3.2 billion. Speculation has gone through the roof and reactions to the supposed deal range from incredulity to sheer confusion. A video posted early this morning by Tyrese Gibson showing Dr. Dre, the man behind Beats, partying it up and announcing, "the first billionaire in hip-hop, right here from the motherf_____g West Coast!"
So unless Dre's won some otherworldly lottery, this exuberant display seems to lend credence to the rumour that Beats has indeed been acquired by someone for billions. A $3.2 billion acquisition by Apple would be the largest in the company's history, the largest by far. Some are saying there's no way Apple would pay so much for a company that makes headphones and who isn't really into technology.
They have it all wrong. Like it or not, Beats is a lifestyle brand. I personally don't think their headphones are that great and they're terribly pricey, but you have to admit they have presence.
It is ironic that the Beats logo headphones have pretty much replaced Apple's own white iPod earbuds as the trademark for hipness and cool. Backed by various impresarios in the music industry, hall of fame athletes and partners Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, Beats is one of the most recognizeable brands in consumer technology.
Beats also has Beats Music, a paid-subscription based music service (and natural additive to iTunes). Yes Apple could opt to buy a company like Spotify, which leads the streaming service pack, but it looks like they see Beats as a better fit for what they have in mind.
Apple hasn't confirmed or denied the acquisition and neither has Beats (officially) but unless Dre and Tyrese really drank all the Heinekens, we should hear some official news by next week.
As for me, I'm kicking myself for not naming my column The Apple Beats and grabbing the domain.