Trent Reznor's Mysterious Streaming Service Reportedly Being Wooed By Apple

Scott Bakula really feels his $100 million, diamond-encrusted Beats cans / Photo by Getty Images

With $60 million from investors, "Daisy" spins off into own company

Details are still scarce about Beats By Dre's new music subscription service, which boasts Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor as its chief creative officer, but this much is becoming clear: The project has some powerful backers.
Parent company Beats Electronics announced last night it was spinning off the service, code-named Daisy, into its own standalone company. Making this possible was a $60 million round of funding led by Access Industries, the privately held conglomerate that owns "big three" record label Warner Music Group. Beats' music service, which purportedly has something to do with "curation" and "trusted filters," is now set for a late-2013 launch.
Meanwhile, Beats has held discussions with Apple about the planned Daisy service, Reuters reports, citing "three people familiar with the situation." Neither Apple nor Beats would comment to Reuters. Apple has been contemplating a music-streaming equivalent to iTunes, while Beats currently has a relationship with an Apple competitor, Taiwanese smart-phone maker HTC.
While Pandora has been lobbying Congress to lower the company's artist-royalty costs and Spotify has been hosting events with Frank Ocean, Beats' service has remained somewhat mysterious. Last month, the company made available a phone number where listeners could hear an unreleased song by Reznor's How to Destroy Angels and a B-side by the Beastie Boys. The number was part of an app called Twilio, dreamed up by the Daisy service's CEO Ian Rogers. We'd settle for digits that get us through to someone who can explain what exactly this formidable group has in store for the music biz.

Dr Dre's Beats company to launch music streaming service, Daisy

Beat Electronics LLC, the makers of Beats By Dre headphones, have received an investment that they will use to launch a music streaming service.
The company was given a $60 million investment from billionaire Len Blavatnik, and is going to use the money to start the 'Daisy' music streaming service later this year and spin the service out as an independent company.
Blavatnik said in a statement, "Beats has the vision, the brand, the management team and now the investor group to effectively change the expectations and experiences of a music subscription service.
"I’m looking forward to taking on this exciting challenge together."
Beats, which is founded by Dr Dre and music producer Jimmy Iovine, are planning for the subscription service to be a competitor to services such as Spotify and Rdio. As well as Topspin Media Inc founder Ian Rogers, Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor will also be helping to design 'Daisy'.
Iovine said at the time, "What’s missing from the digital music landscape is a cultural context. We need to bring an emotional connection back to the act of music discovery. With Trent Reznor and now Ian, we have the right team in place to do it."

Trent Reznor is working with Ian Rogers to design the 'Daisy' service

As well as Beats, Google and Apple are reportedly both currently planning to launch their own music streaming service. According to Reuters, Apple has discussed a potential partnership with Beats.
Spotify currently boasts 5 million paying subscribers and 20 million users of its service in 17 countries.

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Dr. Dre Secures $60 Million In Funding For “Daisy” Streaming Music Service

(AllHipHop News) Music mogul’s Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine have officially launched a new streaming music service titled “Daisy” backed by $60 million in funding.
The pair’s company Beats Electronics secured the investment from Access Industries and a group of private investors, who will launch “Daisy” sometime in late 2013.
“Daisy” is being launched off of the streaming service MOG, which Beats Electronics in 2012 for an undisclosed sum.
[ALSO READ: Dr. Dre’s Company Beats Electronic Acquires Streaming Service MOG]
“Beats was always about helping people re-discover the magic in the experience of listening to music,” Jimmy Iovine said. “Now that we are well along the way to addressing the quality of audio playback with Beats headphones and speakers, Daisy allows us to re-introduce the same magic into the process of music discovery and consumption.”
In addition to being well capitalized, “Daisy” will benefit from the investment group’s years of experience in music and subscription-based services.
This investment group brings significant expertise in music and subscription business, complimenting and extending the advantages already bestowed upon “Daisy” from its close relationship with and initial investment from Beats.
“Beats has the vision, the brand, the management team and now the investor group to effectively change the expectations and experiences of a music subscription service,” said Access Industries’ Len Blavatnik. “I’m looking forward to taking on this exciting challenge together.”
Former Topspin head Ian Rogers will be Chief Executive Officer of “Daisy” and Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor will serve as the music service’s Chief Creative Officer.

Apple met with Beats regarding streaming music service partnership

Apple recently met with Beats Electronics, the audio firm founded by hip-pop producer Dr Dre and music mogul Jimmy Iovine, to discuss a potential partnership involving the company’s planned music streaming service.  CEO Tim Cook and Internet products chief Eddy Cue reportedly met with Beats CEO Jimmy Iovine during a trip to Los Angeles late last month according to sources familiar with the situation as reported by Reuters.
Sources speaking directly with Reuters said the meeting was informational and covered a wide range of topics related to music. Specifically, Cook showed interest in Beats’ music streaming business model and their rollout plans although the two sides did not discuss any specifics relating to a deal.

Naturally, both companies declined to comment when probed by the publication.
Interestingly enough, Beats is already locked into a separate partnership with Taiwanese handset maker HTC, one of Apple’s rivals in the mobile devices market. It seems unlikely that the deal between Beats and HTC would have any bearing on a strategic partnership with Apple, however.
Beats purchased streaming music provider MOG last summer for an undisclosed amount of money. Iovine and company reportedly selected MOG due to the fact that they were the first streaming service to offer their entire catalog in 320Kbps.
Earlier this year, Beats announced Project Daisy – their plans to take what is left of MOG and develop it into a new streaming audio service. Topspin boss Ian Rogers was appointed CEO and the goal is to focus on mobile first but outside of that, details still remain unknown.

Blavatnik leads $60M investment in Daisy

Daisy, Beats Electronics LLC's recently acquired and renamed digital music service, has garnered $60 million in new capital, a move that reflects both the upheaval among musical streams and their continued seductiveness.

With the investment, Daisy has been spun out as a separate company, the company said Wednesday, March 6, announcing the deal. A relaunch is scheduled late this year.
Fast-evolving music mogul Len Blavatnik, though his Access Industries Inc. industrial and investment group, is leading the funding. Other investors include Marc Rowen, senior managing director of alternative investment stalwart Apollo Global Management LLC; James Packer, the Australian businessman and budding casino companies player; and what are described as "affiliates" of Lee M. Bass, the Texas oil and gas billionaire.
Access's lead is especially noteworthy. Blavatnik, born in the Soviet Union and now an American citizen, made his fortune in chemicals and minerals, but is rapidly changing focus to music. He is best known in the music world for his $3.3 billion acquisition through Access of Warner Music Group Corp. in 2011. Last year, he also led a €100 million ($129.9 million) funding round of the French digital music service Deezer, which operates in most of the world except the United States. So now, Blavatnik's financial fingers have global reach when it comes to digital music services.
In Wednesday's announcement, there is not even a hint that Santa Monica, Calif.-based Daisy and Deezer could mate. However, even a combination at the funding level could pose added difficulties for Spotify Ltd., which now leads the pack among such services. It could also prove another headache for the Internet radio services that also compete for the ears of listeners, notably Pandora Media Inc.
Add to this persistent buzz that both Apple Inc. and Google Inc., through its YouTube division, will launch their own digital streaming services.
The problem for all these services is the basic theme in the music industry this past decade: How to make money? Spotify, for example, in 2011, notched revenue of $245 million, but lost $59 million. It claims 20 million subscribers, but only 5 million of these actually pay anything for the service and even then, it's difficult to ascertain just how much.
Spotify hasn't revealed 2012 figures, but analysts believe revenue doubled, as did losses.
Known for making and marketing brightly colored headsets, Beats was co-founded by rapper/producer Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, the hip-hop impresario and chairman of record company Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Last July, Beats announced it had bought Mog, one of many struggling music services. While Beats didn't disclose financial terms, several industry insiders said the price tag was substantially less than the $25 million venture capital had invested.
In January, Beats announced with great fanfare that it was bringing on two big names for the service it was rechristening under the "internal code name" Daisy. Ian Rogers, the CEO of digital music marketer Topspin Media LLC and former head of Yahoo! Inc.'s music division, now heads up Daisy. Its creative director is Indie musician Trent Reznor, the leader of Nine Inch Nails and, more recently, a successful film composer.
"Beats has the vision, the brand, the management team and now the investor group to effectively change the expectations and experiences of a music subscription service," Blavatnik said in the statement.
Investment bank Moelis & Co. served as exclusive financial adviser and placement agent. Los Angeles-based bankers Navid Mahmoodzadegan and Carlos Jimenez led the team.
Kevin Masuda and David Thompson, Los Angeles-based partners at Munger Tolles & Olson LLP, represented Daisy for the investment.

Fiat 500L features Lavazza coffee machine, Beats by Dre audio

The large version of the Fiat 500, cunningly titled the Fiat 500 L, is upon us. The supermini-inspired mini MPV will go on sale at the end of the first quarter of 2013 – that's summer for those of you that don't speak 'corporate'.

The 500 L's biggest selling point may be its styling, size and association with the wildly popular Fiat 500, but Fiat has crammed in plenty of unique features that should help it carve its own niche. For example it's the first car we've seen that comes with its own Lavazza coffee maker build into it and it'll come with a Beats by Dre audio system.
Once you're tanked up on caffeine and crunking to gangsta rap, you'll want to try out one of the 1,500 configurations of interior space. There are 22 compartments of different sizes scattered around the cabin, providing plenty of choice when stashing loose change, gadgets or baby paraphernalia.
The car also makes use of a clever Fold&Tumble system that allows you to fold the passenger seat and rear seatbacks forward to accommodate objects as long as 2.4 metres, or to fold the rear seat backs forward and the seat bottoms down to provide more luggage space.
Boot space is impressive. Whereas the standard Fiat 500's boot is laughably small, the Fiat 500 L's is capacious at 400 litres. What's more, Fiat's cargo magic space design allows the boot to be split into distinct sections.
The Fiat 500L will come in three trim levels, Pop Star, Easy and Lounge, as well as four engine options. These include petrols in the form of the1.4-litre Fire and 875cc TwinAir Turbo, and two diesels – a 1.3-litre and 1.6-litre MultiJet 2.
The Pop Star and Easy models both have a starting price of £14,990. The top of the range Lounge model adds £1,400 to that price but has £2,000 worth of extra equipment. The 105hp TwinAir engine will set you back an additional £1,500, and the 1.6-litre MultiJet diesel costs a further £1,000.
Head along to your local Fiat dealer for more information and keep your eyes peeled for a full review in the very near future. If the Fiat 500 L doesn't take your fancy, then keep your eyes open for the larger Fiat 500 X, which is scheduled to arrive in 2014.

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Does the HTC Droid DNA high res display trumps the iPhone 5, Galaxy S III?

 

The HTC Droid DNA has a lot of powerful features, but its central highlight is the 5.0 inch 1,080P touchscreen display on the front of the handset. HTC raised a lot of eyebrows when they released the Droid DNA, as it delivered an industry-leading 441 pixels per inch (ppi) pixel density. Those 441 color pixels located over every inch of display space trump both the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S III pixel density offerings. The Galaxy S III runs 306 ppi, while the Apple iPhone 5 offers 326 ppi.
HTC Droid DNA on the Verizon Networks is priced at $49.99 for a smartphone packed with features.
Display size is also bigger on the Droid DNA 4G than those two smartphones. The Galaxy S III boasts a large 4.80 inch display, while Apple provides its first ever 4.0 inch screen on the iPhone 5. At 5.0 inches, the Droid DNA 4G display is a full 25% larger than the iPhone 5 screen, and marginally larger than the one found on the GS III. But it offers a full 40% improvement in pixel density, and a 50% improvement in overall display resolution over the Galaxy S III.
HTC designers stretched the display on the handset from edge to edge, meaning that all your focus is on that big, clear screen. The handset also offers the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean operating system and HTC Sense UI overlay out-of-the-box. A powerful quad core processor runs the show, and the Droid DNA 4G is exclusive to the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE system in the United States, which encompasses more than 440 major markets.
Video capture runs 1,080P HD resolution on the rear facing camcorder, which has an 8.0 megapixel sensor. That rear camera is capable of simultaneous high definition video and image capture, a burst mode which records up to four snapshots per second, and a special effects package. Video chats and video calls are offered by the front facing chat cam, and NFC wireless support is present. The exclusive Beats Audio sound package is on board, as is a built-in YouTube video player.
New customers can buy the HTC Droid DNA on Verizon starting at $49.99, while existing customers can upgrade for $99.
The 5.0 inch display is an ImageChip ISP S-LCD 3 model, delivering 1,080 x 1,920 pixel resolution. Talk time runs 12.6 hours from a single charge, and the quad core Snapdragon processor has been clocked at 1.5 GHz. A scratch resistant layer of Gorilla Glass protects against everyday wear and tear, and the handset delivers a full 2.0 GB of RAM memory, and 16 GB of built-in data storage space. Video out is provided by DLNA wireless connectivity.