Apple on Wednesday confirmed it's buying Beats for $3 billion, giving the electronics giant a popular headphones business and subscription streaming music.
The acquisition -- Apple's biggest ever -- includes $2.6 billion up front and $400 million that will vest over time. Early reports said Apple was planning to buy Beats for $3.2 billion, but recent speculation said the price had dropped. The company said Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, whom it called "sound pioneers," will join Apple. "Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. "That's why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world. Lovine, meanwhile, said he always believed Beats "belonged with Apple." "The idea when we started the company was inspired by Apple's unmatched ability to marry culture and technology," Iovine said in a press release. "Apple's deep commitment to music fans, artists, songwriters and the music industry is something special." News of the deal broke earlier this month. At the time, it was unclear just why Apple would want to make the biggest acquisition in its 38-year-history. Yes, Beats sells a lot of headphones, but Apple, which already sells its own branded in-ear headphones as part of a line of accessories for the iPhone and iPad, could make similar headphones of its own. As for a curated streaming music service such as the one offered by Beats, that's also something Apple could probably create on its own. Eddy Cue, Apple senior vice president of Internet software and services, said Beats will make Apple's music lineup "even better," with the company now able to offer a subscription service along with the free iTunes Radio and song purchases. Apple also noted that Beats has "become the brand of choice in the music and sports worlds" and "has quickly become part of pop culture in the US." The company plans to expand Beats to more countries through the Apple online store, Apple's retail stores, and select Apple authorized resellers. The company expects the deal to close the fiscal fourth quarter, which ends in September. Apple has followed a predictable script for the past four decades, shunning big, well-known companies and instead buying small players with talent or core technology -- such as the Siri voice recognition technology -- to supplement its current products or help it offer something new. Most of those acquisitions have been so small Apple wasn't even required to disclose them. Before Beats, Apple's largest public acquisition on record was the $429 million it paid in 1996 for Steve Jobs' software maker Next. In the past 18 months, Cook and his team have bought 24 companies. Beats is the biggest deal so far. Dope: Google's Unveils Its New Self-Driving Car With No Steering Wheel, Gas Pedal Or Brakes!5/28/2014 Earlier today (May 28th), world renowned poet Dr. Maya Angelou died and the news
The last musical collaboration the late Maya Angelou worked on was for Common’s The Dreamer/The Believer on the song “The Dreamer”. Even though Angelou was “surprised” by Common’s use of the N-word on the song she was featured, she considered him “brilliant” and Common in turn reminisced about his former collaborator on the day of her death: This past Sunday, Wiz Khalifa performed at the Soundset Festival in Shakopee, Minnesota, after spending eight hours in jail for marijuana possession. In a recent interview with Sway’s Universe, Wiz Khalifa explains how he was able to take a cell phone photo in jail, his meal and more
While in jail, Wiz sent a selfie from the holding cell to his personal Twitter account. According to Wiz, he had to use his wife Amber Rose in order to take the photo: He was swoll, ’cause I was like ‘yo, can I get that phone? I really need to call my wife. I need to tell her what happened. Then, he gave me that phone and I said ‘selfie. [Laughs] After stating that “over 10″ El Paso Police officers asked for his autograph following his arrest, Wiz explains why he was so generous: Honestly, because I take it like this: Those people in there weren’t the people who arrested me. So, that does not make them not supporters or fans. So, I’m not going to sh*t on them. Nah While Wiz admits that “every time I get locked up, I only eat the fruit”, the Pittsburg MC revealed how the arrest was a sign from the universe: When I say ‘Trap Wiz’, I kind of created a character in my head that I was able to live through and put a whole bunch of energy into that I wouldn’t be able to get away with if I was Wiz Khalifa. Just the way the universe works, everything became understandable and like, laid itself out. Especially with me going to jail it’s like ‘Oh, this is like a real vibe. Trap Wiz is real. Check out the full interview below: On May 17th, less than a week after Solange and Jay Z’s elevator fight footage surfaced, Jay Z’s Life+Times released a faux-movie trailer for his “On The Run (Part II)” song. In a recent interview, the director of the trailer explains how it came to fruition, how Jay Z delayed the process and more.
Grammy award winning music video director Melina Matsouka directed Beyonce and Jay Z together before for their 2007 collaboration “Upgrade U”. In an interview with Elle.com, Matsouka explains that the fake movie trailer is actually the music video for “On The Run (Part II)”. According to the acclaimed director, the project came together in the past month after previous attempts were stalled: We were supposed to shoot in January, but he was on tour. We canceled [that] shoot the day before because it was just too much. It came back up last month because the tour [together] was starting and they really wanted a visual for the song. I was excited because I loved the idea and wanted the chance to visualize it. We started shooting and all those cameos came last minute. Once we got one then we got everybody. Matsouka reveals that while both of the power couple were excited to make the video, Jay Z was apprehensive. Matsouka says Jay Z was “hesitant about ‘Oh, now I have to be an actor”, however was able to pull in an Oscar winning star in a day’s notice: Jay put in a call for Sean Penn. It was the end of us shooting the first day. One of Jay’s creatives came up me and she’s like ‘OK, we need to call Sean Penn now. He’s coming tomorrow.’ And I’m ‘What? OK.’ So I’m driving back through the desert and my phone’s not working and it didn’t work that night and I wake up the next morning to a text from Sean Penn. So I talked to him about the project and what were thinking of doing with him. And he’s like ‘I can be there at 3.’ I’m like ‘I kind of need you there in an hour.’ And he went home and got dressed and came camera-ready. It was all improv so it was kind of perfect. [Jay and him] discussed where their characters were at that point in our faux-film. He came up with his own dialogue. That’s actually one of my favorite scenes. Check out the full interview at Elle.com Dave Chappelle Announces Radio City Music Hall Concerts W/ Erykah Badu, DJ Premier, The Roots + MORE5/28/2014 On September 18th, 2004, Dave Chappelle held a glorified block party in Brooklyn, NY that featured The Roots, BlackStar, The Fugees, Erykah Badu, Kanye West and a bountiful amount of other legends. A decade later, Dave Chapelle has three concerts planned to bring the block party to Radio City Music Hall.
Two months ago, Dave Chappelle announced he would be headlining his first ever stand-up at Radio City Music Hall this June and subsequently sold out the next five shows. The last of Dave’s five stand-up performances is scheduled to take place on June 22nd. Today (May 27th), Dave announces that two days after that final show, he will begin the first of his three full orchestra concerts featuring numerous musical guests: June 24: Dave Chappelle and The Roots. June 25: Dave Chappelle, Busta Rhymes, DJ Premier and Janelle Monae June 26: Dave Chappelle and Erykah Badu Tickets for the concert dates go on sale on this upcoming Monday (June 2nd) at ticketmaster.com. American Express® Card Members have access to pre-sale tickets from May 29th 10 A.M. – June 1st 10 A.M. Questlove recently stated that the September 2004 block party was the “day of the Soulquarians funeral”. Check out Dave Chapelle’s “Block Party” below: Legendary poet and author Maya Angelou passed away early this morning (5/28). According to reports, Angelou died in home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She had reportedly been in bad health recently and had canceled scheduled appearances.
Perhaps best known for her memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient wrote several works. She also directed the film Down in the Delta. Angelou was 86 years old. Fans of 50 Cent praise the Queens native for his rap skills and business savvy, but the G-Unit leader is not going to get many kudos for his performance on the mound at a recent Mets game.
Fiddy was on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Citi Field. Bob Uecker of Major League fame probably would have described the throw as “juuuust a bit outside.” 50 was a good sport about the situation though. The Animal Ambition creator laughed as he walked off the mound and later talked about the wild pitch. “That was Curtis Jackson. I don’t even like when he comes around,” joked 50. “50 Cent is the best. Curtis Jackson – I don’t even know what’s the matter with him.” Watch 50 Cent’s first pitch below. KimYe are officially married! Kanye and Kim said their “I Do’s” in the beautiful city of Florence, Italy at the 16th century Fort di Belvedere yesterday evening. The guest list was expectedly star-studded with Kris Jenner, Khloé Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick, Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner, Jonathan Cheban, Rachel Roy, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, LaLa Anthony, Lorraine Schwartz, Steve McQueen, Big Sean, Common, Yasiin Bey, Tyga and Blac Chyna, Q-Tip, Rick Rubin, Jaden Smith and David Blaine all in attendance.
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