Beats Music Eyes Streaming Exclusives to Rival iTunes and Pandora
What's in a name? A lot, evidently. While the streaming music universe hasn't really needed another major player for some time now, Beats Music is going against the grain. Despite having Rdio, Spotify, Pandora, Rhapsody, iTunes, Google Play Music, and plenty of others, Beats Music has decided to enter the streaming game late after acquiring MOG.
Now, the company is raising yet another round of funding, on the order of $60 million to $100 million. That's an insanely high figure, no matter how you slice it, and one has to wonder how on Earth it could command that kind of valuation given the intense competition and low margins of the industry. But then, there's this: exclusive rights.
Those two little words may reveal what's so special about Beats Music's plans. Pandora and iTunes have carved out a special niche by offering pre-release streams and exclusive album sales, and it appears that Beats Music may be interested in taking it all one step further by introduction exclusive streams. Of course, this is terrible news for consumers, as no one wants to subscribe to five different music services in order to receive 100% of the available music.
It's all rather speculatory for now, but be on the lookout for Beats to snag some pretty special stuff going forward -- hopefully, only for an initial lock-up period, after which the same music would be available on other platforms as well.
Now, the company is raising yet another round of funding, on the order of $60 million to $100 million. That's an insanely high figure, no matter how you slice it, and one has to wonder how on Earth it could command that kind of valuation given the intense competition and low margins of the industry. But then, there's this: exclusive rights.
Those two little words may reveal what's so special about Beats Music's plans. Pandora and iTunes have carved out a special niche by offering pre-release streams and exclusive album sales, and it appears that Beats Music may be interested in taking it all one step further by introduction exclusive streams. Of course, this is terrible news for consumers, as no one wants to subscribe to five different music services in order to receive 100% of the available music.
It's all rather speculatory for now, but be on the lookout for Beats to snag some pretty special stuff going forward -- hopefully, only for an initial lock-up period, after which the same music would be available on other platforms as well.
