Beats Electronics’ “Daisy” music service has secured $60 million in funding from a consortium led by Access Industries, Len Blavatnik’s investment group, which owns Warner Music Group. Marc Rowan, James Packer and parties affiliated with Lee M. Bass also participated in the funding round, according to a statement released on Wednesday.
Spearheaded by Interscope Geffen A&M chairman and Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine along with newly hired CEO Ian Rogers and chief creative officer Trent Reznor, Daisy, as the service formerly known as MOG is called internally, also is being spun out into a stand-alone company. It’s slated to launch in late 2013.
Warner Music Inks Deal With Google for Music Subscription Services
Already a leader in the audio playback sector of headphones and speakers, where Beats has quickly become a formidable market force, Iovine’s mission to bring high quality sound to every music-loving ear in America (and eventually the world) comes one step closer with Daisy, which he promises will “re-introduce the same magic into the process of music discovery and consumption.”
Says Blavatnik in announcing Access’ participation: “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.”
Moelis & Company acted as financial advisors, representing the investment parties exclusively.
In other Daisy related news , Reuters reports that Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook met with Beats CEO Jimmy Iovine during a visit to Los Angeles in late February on a potential partnership involving Beats’ planned music-streaming service. The report said that Apple’s Internet products chief Eddy Cue also attended the meeting . Cook reportedly expressed interest in Daisy’s business model and its rollout plans but the meeting was “informational.”
The Daisy news comes on the same day that news of a Warner Music and Google deal on the latter’s new streaming services broke. Google is reportedly in the process of offering two new music streaming services for its YouTube and Google Play properties that Warner has agreed to license its music to.
If the two moves by WMG make anything clear, it’s that Warner Music clearly sees the value of music streaming and has fully embraced it as part of its business strategy. [Billboard.biz]
