Apple welcomes Beats to the family as $3 billion acquisition is finalized

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Apple-welcomes-Beats

Apple today officially welcomed Beats Music and Beats Electronics to its family, along with Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, following its $3 billion takeover back in May.

“Music has always held a special place in our hearts, and we’re thrilled to join forces with a group of people who love it as much as we do,” reads an announcement on Apple.com, while those buying products from the Beats website will now be routed through the Apple Store.

“Beats cofounders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre have created beautiful products that have helped millions of people deepen their connection to music,” Apple adds. “We’re delighted to be working with the team to elevate that experience even further. And we can’t wait to hear what’s next.”

Apple’s announcement links to BeatsByDre.com, the official Beats website, where another announcement that praises the Macintosh, the iPod, and other Apple products confirms the takeover.

Musicians rely on their instruments to give structure and form to their imagination. At the dawn of digital recording, the Macintosh computer was the instrument of choice. At the beginning of portable digital music, the iPod placed the library of the world’s music in your pocket. The iPhone became not only an instrument for music, but also the centre of your connected life. The iPad extended this capability with a user interface and apps that allowed you to compose a symphony on the tube. Starting today, we at Beats are fortunate to add our instrument to this legacy by joining Apple.

Upon attempting to purchase an item from the Beats website, however, customers are redirected back to the Apple Store where all Beats products are now available — including the funky Beats Pill Dude priced at $49.95.

Apple senior vice presidents Eddy Cue and Phil Schiller also emailed employees to announce that Beats is officially part of the family. The memo, obtained by The Daily Dotread:

Today Beats officially joins the Apple family!

On behalf of all Apple employees around the world, we would like to extend them our warmest welcome.

Music is in our DNA. In Beats, Apple has found a team of creative and talented people who are as passionate about music as we are.

Jimmy lovine, Dr Dre and the team that has built Beats have created music products that customers love. And what we will do together is going to be even greater than what we could have done on our own.

This is going to be a lot of fun!

Eddy and Phil

Earlier this week, Apple began integrating the Beats team into its own, according to the New York Post. Around 200 workers — 40% of Beats’s worldwide workforce — are to be cut as Apple’s changes are implemented, many of whom have already received offers from Apple with set end dates, according to sources.

Source: Apple

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