Will Apple incorporate Beats Music into iTunes?

Apple has denied reports it plans to shut down Beats Music, four months after acquiring the streaming service for $3 billion. Tech Crunch first reported the Cupertino company was going to discontinue Beats Music, citing five sources including “several prominent employees at Apple and Beats”. Apple has since responded to these claims by stating the report “is not true”, though no further explanation has been given. Some Wall Street experts have speculated that the company will eventually incorporate the streaming service into Apple’s iTunes.

We always are future-focussed. So it’s not what Apple and Beats are doing today. It’s what we believe pairing the two together can produce for the future.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, at the time of the Beats acquisition

Apple CEO Tim Cook previously said that “music has always been at the heart of Apple”, emphasising the point with the recent giveaway of U2’s latest album at the launch of the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and the Apple Watch. At the same launch event, little attention was given to Beats Electronics or Beats Music and there has been no mention of any plans for a Beats Music app. It’s estimated Beats Music has around 250,000 paying subscribers, each paying $10/month. The idea that Apple would absorb these users into its iTunes service would be consistent with previous acquisitions, such as Embark and HopStop.

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