After weeks in the making and premature celebrations, Apple and Beats finally made their merger official.
Apple announced today that it will be buying both Beats Music, the streaming music service, and Beat Electronics, the headphones and such. The final total for the deal was $3 billion, consisting of $2.6 billion in cash and around $400 million in stock.
“Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “That’s why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world.”
“I’ve always known in my heart that Beats belonged with Apple,” said Jimmy Iovine. “The idea when we started the company was inspired by Apple’s unmatched ability to marry culture and technology. Apple’s deep commitment to music fans, artists, songwriters and the music industry is something special.”
Also as part of the deal, Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will join Apple as part of the deal, which will likely close by September, Apple said. To coincide with the announcement, Interscope Records made an announcement of their own by confirming that Iovine will be leaving his position as chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M. He will be replaced by John Janick, who has worked under Iovine for the past two years grooming him for the position.
All of this news also means that Tyrese should be out of Dr. Dre’s doghouse.