iTunes head Cue and Beat's Iovine: Apple will put Beats on steroids

Eddy Cue, Apple SVP of Internet software and services, also says Apple in 2014 has the "best product pipeline" he's seen in 25 years.

Apple's iTunes head Eddy Cue and Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine, chat at the Code Conference. Asa Mathat/Recode

Beats is about to get a big injection of steroids from Apple.
Eddy Cue, Apple's head of iTunes, and Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine, talked about the reasoning behind Apple's plan to buy Beats and gave hints about what the two companies could do together.
"It's about music," Cue said Wednesday during an appearance at the Recode Code Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. "Music is something that is really important to culture. It's important to everyone in the world. Everyone loves music. Apple has been involved in music since Day 1. ... This is about us continuing to invest in music."
He added that Beats had three things that Apple "wanted and loved:" incredible talent, premium headphones, and a well-curated subscription music service. It also sees opportunities in areas such as speakers, Cue said. Apple has a lot of customers, it knows what they listen to, it gives the customers an easy way to pay, and it has great relationships with artists, he said. All of those will help put Beats "on steroids," Cue added.
"At the end of the day, it's not about what Apple is doing today, or what Beats is doing today," Cue said. "It's about what we can do together."
Cue later added that Apple has "the best product pipeline I've seen in 25 years" slated for 2014.
"I believe the products we've got coming are great," he said.
Apple on Wednesday said it plans to buy Beats for $3 billion, giving the electronics giant a popular headphones business and subscription streaming music service. The acquisition brings Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre to Apple's management team, and Apple will continue to use the Beats brand. Beats controls about 60 percent of the $1 billion premium headphones market, according to NPD Group, and it has proved popular with everyone from celebrities to tweens.
News of the deal broke earlier this month. At the time, it was unclear just why Apple would want to make the biggest acquisition in its 38-year history. Beats sells a lot of headphones, but Apple, which already sells its own branded in-ear headphones as part of a line of accessories for the iPhone and iPad, could make similar headphones of its own. As for a curated streaming music service such as the one offered by Beats, that's also something Apple could probably create on its own.
Apple executives on Wednesday defended the move in interviews with reporters and a memo to employees. CEO Tim Cook praised Iovine and Dre and said the subscription service they built is the "first one that really got it right." He also said that Beats gives the company "a head start" on new products for the future.