Spotify CEO Thinks Apple’s Acquisition Of Beats Is More About Branding

When Apple announced their plans to acquire Beats, many were puzzled by the move. After all Apple did not need headphones since the company isn’t exactly in the headphones business. They also didn’t really need Beats Music because they had iTunes Radio, so why on earth would they buy the company?

Well some believe it is to access the connections that Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre have in the music and fashion industry, in a bid to help rebrand Apple and make them look more accessible and “hip” to the youngsters That is a sentiment shared by Spotify’s CEO during a recent interview with Fortune, which you can check out in the video above.

According to Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek, “My belief, rightly or wrongly, is that Apple is becoming more of a lifestyle company. And they’re thinking a lot more about how they can become a lifestyle company. So if you look at some of the executives they’ve hired, pretty much all of them come out of fashion. I can’t think of a consumer electronics company that’s more associated to lifestyle and fashion than Beats.”

He later adds that he believes that by acquiring Beats, it helps Apple create the perception that they are a lifestyle business, as opposed to a tech company. Ek also believes that individuals such as Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre are representatives of such a lifestyle that Apple is striving towards. In any case those are some interesting points he raised, but what do you guys think?

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Audio
Tags: beats, Spotify