Apple is set to close down Beats Music sources claim weeks after the iPhone maker took control of the headphone maker.
UPDATE: Adnews has quoted a statement from Apple’s Australian PR representatives stating “it’s not true” following speculation overnight from various sources that Apple had been set to shutter its Beats Music service. It seems “the beat will go on”.
Original story follows:
Apple acquired Beats for $3 billion in May, and at the time they said that Beats Music would continue to operate, now it appearsa that they have had a change of attitude.
At the time it was speculated that Apple wanted to adopt Beats Music’s streaming technology so that they could turn iTunes Radio into a full-fledged, on-demand subscription service.
Currently Radio only lets people vote on tracks, and listeners can only pay for it indirectly by subscribing to iTunes Match, which removes Radio’s ads.
Insiders claim that “Many” Beats Music engineers have reportedly been diverted to other projects, such as iTunes. The sources have no word on what Apple plans to do with the service’s technology.
There are other incentives for shutting down Beats Music. The service launched in January, and has yet to gain much traction. It’s also the only Apple product with apps on mobile platforms other than iOS, and the company typically kills off support for non-iOS/OS X products when it acquires them alongside a company.
