Apple is Reportedly Rebuilding Beats Music to Relaunch It Next Year as Part of iTunes

Apple is rebuilding Beats Music and plans to relaunch it next year as part of iTunes, reports the WSJ.

The news comes as iTunes downloads have taken a sharp drop. Since the start of the year, digital music sales are reportedly down 13-14%. That's much worse than the 2.1% drop last year.

The plummeting download numbers help illustrate why Apple bought the $10-a-month subscription streaming service Beats Music earlier this year, as part of its $3 billion acquisition that included headphone maker Beats Electronics. Apple is rebuilding Beats Music and plans to relaunch it next year as part of iTunes, according to a person familiar with the matter.


The Recording Industry Associate of America says that revenue from U.S. download sales fell 12% in the first half of 2014; however, a 23% jump in paid-subscription service revenue resulted in a slight overall increase in digital revenue to $2.2 billion.

Apple reported that iTunes sales in its third quarter were $4.6 billion, up $0.3 billion year-over-year. However, it did not break out music sales from apps and other media.

Recent reports suggest that Apple wants to relaunch Beats Music with a lower subscription price. Apparently, it's asking labels to cut the price in half. That may be difficult to achieve. It's suggested that perhaps they'll get the price down to $7-8/month from $10/month.

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