Apple’s $3 billion purchase of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine’s Beats Electronics was seen as a move out of the blue for the company, and sparked some debate about why it would purchase a company that makes headphones and a streaming music app.
A BuzzFeed report details the accounts of sources at Apple that were involved in the creation of iTunes Radio, and the struggle to get upper management to check out the competition they were facing. According to an employee, “I was floored by the decision-making skills by management over and over again.â€
Apple’s previous attempt at a music-oriented social network was Ping, a service designed to show users what their friends were listening to. But according to employees, the service was more for getting users to purchase songs rather than connect users through music.
The company didn’t see Pandora, another online radio service for multiple platforms, as a threat because it wasn’t generating enough revenue.
Employees even admitted to using other music streaming sites that offered more music and a more connected social platform, like Spotify and Pandora.