Dr Dre's Apple deal will make him the richest man in hip-hop

[Jesus Malverde]

Dr Dre's Apple deal will make him the richest man in hip-hop

The rapper and producer has made headphones cool again. Now selling his stake in Beats Electronics will give Dre a personal fortune of $800m – nudging him ahead of P Diddy

Read More: http://www.theguardian.com/music/shortcuts/2014/may/09/dr-dre-apple-richest-hip-hop-headphones-beats?CMP=twt_gu

He co-founded Beats, but last year Carlyle Group acquired a minority shareholding for $500m. His present stake is thought to be somewhere between 20 and 25%.

N.W.A - Straight Outta Compton (clean edit)

[onehandle]

1. Trying to fathom what Apple gets out of this.

There must be some technology or connection not apparent to us, because nothing about Beats and its released products are original.

On the surface, this looks like as if Apple bought Juicy Couture or some other niche brand.

[Jesus Malverde]

3. Im not familiar with it, but the beats music service is said to be the target.

[cbdo2007]

4. This is the post-Jobs Apple.....and should be seen as a major red flag to shareholders.

They could have easily developed their own high-end headphones brand and used the "Apple" technology touch to make them special and original and game-changers like many of their other products....instead they buy someone else's idea/name/technology?? This is really odd.

[onehandle]

5. It's not the mediocre hardware. Gotta be technology and/or contractual connections.

Although generally contracts with media companies are not transferable through an acquisition.

This is a huge buy. There has to be a reason.

Amazon and Google are probably pretty pissed about this, which is the best news.

[Lonusca]

6. They get the streaming service

iTunes music download sales (I believe) dropped slightly last year.

Why spend unknown money to develop a system when you are sitting on billions and can have one immediately

[onehandle]

7. Possible, but the media contracts are likely not transferable.

I still think there is something unknown to us in the peanut gallery.

Hoping it gives Google and Amazon the hives.

Spotify is probably not happy either. My wife and I get our music through iTunes and Spotify.

The times they may be a changin'

[Lonusca]

8. Which media contracts?

With the artists and/or the publishers? Transferrable from download to streaming? Or vice versa? Streaming has been the royalty issue. Spotify is a target of many artists who are unhappy with the royalty structure.

If you are spending 3.2B you better have a good idea of the outcome. Apple, through shear force, totally changed the industry with the iPod. The industry wasn't happy but had to go along.

Now we have two industry insiders & Apple together. Will be interesting to see what happens, and if this helps deliver a different business model.

[MattBaggins]

21. Let me speak for google and amazon

Don't give a fuck

[dilby]

2. Beats are terrible, sound quality is just blah and not worth the amount you pay.

You are better off buying a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-M50's for that price and have a product that is a million times better. Yeah they don't have Dre on them but you can't beat the quality for the low price.

[Cartoonist]

9. Headphones

40 years ago I had a great set of headphones. I think they cost 20 bucks. They broke and I have never been able to find an inexpensive replacement that is any good. I've heard Dre's, and they are excellent, but way too expensive. Could someone recommend a good cheap pair?

[dilby]

10. But $20 40 years ago was like $100.

You could try the Audio-Technica ATH-M30's they are like $40 on Amazon and a good set of headphones for the price.

[Cartoonist]

14. My memory

I don't really remember what they cost. I was just a teen-ager then, and I've always been cheap, so they couldn't have taken much of a hit in my wallet.

Thanks for the rec, I'll check out ATH.

[TroglodyteScholar]

12. I second the Audio Technica recommendation

They've been around forever and know what they're doing. Beats is a brand held up by a personality and a logo. Not entirely unlike Apple.

[frylock]

15. i have both the beats pill and a set of the studio headphones..

and you're right; sound is mediocre at best. I only bought them because I have a friend that flies frequently to Beijing, and she got them for dirt cheap.

[Electric Monk]

18. re: friend got them dirt cheap in Beijing, are they possibly knock-offs?

First thing that came to mind reading your post. I've never used Beats™, fwiw.

[frylock]

20. perhaps, but they seem legit..

I've compared them with my friend's Beats Studio headphones, and the difference in build/audio quality is practically indiscernible.

[TroglodyteScholar]

11. The true indicator that he's "made it" is that he managed to team up with Carlyle Group

Welcome, Dre, to the world of power-grabbing and denial of humanity in all its many forms. Hope it was worth it.

[Supersedeas]

22. Funny

[Heidi]

13. I have no problem with Dr. Dre becoming the richest man in hip hop

or any other industry. I don't think he decided who could acquire a minority interest in Beats.

[Nye Bevan]

16. This demonstrates the benefits of studying for a Doctorate

before making it big in the music world.

[Reter]

17. Jay-Z isn't the richest rapper?

I always thought he was. Eminem too is up there.

[Atman]

19. Beats SUCK. And now he's sold out to Carlyle Group? Bush league.

Fuck that.

[Inkfreak]

23. I could never buy a pair of those.

It's an impossibility for me to spend that kind of $ for something so simple. Headphones. It's unreal. My sister bought her 13 yr old kid a pair. And they don't have a pot to piss in. I wanted to scream when I saw that.

Good for Dre tho, I'm more of an Ice Cube fan tho. Pre-Coors commercials..those are just sad.

[BlindTiresias]

24. Dr Dre sucks

Totally outpaced by contemporaries, Poison Pen and Immortal Technique are vastly superior.