Would Apple be crazy enough to kill the Beats brand? It's complicated

There is no way to remove Beats from Apple, even if the brand goes away.

- MICHAEL SIMON

Out of all the companies Apple has purchased over the years, Beats was the most perplexing (go.macworld. com/pplx). Not only was it a whopping $3.2 billion, it also brought a highly recognized brand under the Apple umbrella, along with some very high profile personalities, including Jimmy Iovine, Dr. Dre, and Trent Reznor, all of whom have moved on from prominent roles within the company.

But it all kind of worked. At the time, the brass ring in the Beats purchase wasn’t the ultra-trendy cans, it was the Beats Music subscription service (go.macworld. com/bmsc) that had a small but loyal cadre of listeners. Barely a year after the acquisition was finalized, Beats Music morphed into Apple Music, and some 60 million subscribers later, it clearly worked out. Apple Music is one of the premium listening experiences out there, with plenty of room to grow.

Over the years, Apple Music has basically extinguished any trace of the soul of Beats Music. While some visual throwbacks remain and the hand-curated playlists are still a thing, Apple Music is most definitely a product for Apple users. Yes, there’s an Android version, but Apple doesn’t market Apple Music to buyers of the original Beats in any way. In fact, you won’t even find a single mention of it on the Beats by Dre site.