Apple CEO Tim Cook explains Beats Electronics purchase in wide-ranging interview
Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook has said it was the strength of Beats Electronics' subscription service that persuaded him to sign off on the $3bn (£1.8bn) purchase of the company earlier this year.
In a wide-ranging interview with Charlie Rose on American network PBS last week, Cook touched on a number of topics ranging from Apple's Fire Phone to iCloud security and Steve Jobs.
On the Beats acquisition, Cook praised the different attributes of Beats Electronics founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, but revealed it was their unique and personalised subscription service that set them apart in his eyes.
"In Beats we saw talent that I was super impressed with. Jimmy Iovine and Dre are creative geniuses…Jimmy has a great knowledge of the musical industry, Dre knows artists," Cook said.
One night I'm sitting playing with theirs (subscription service) versus some others, and all of a sudden it dawns on me that when I listen to theirs for a while I feel completely different.
And the reason is, is that they recognised that human curation is important in the subscription service. That the sequencing of songs that you listen to affect how you feel.
It's hard to describe, but you know it when you feel it.
Beats' subscription service, named "Beats Music", launched with an iOS app in January to rival Spotify and Pandora. It uses input from "a trusted team of well-respected music experts" to create playlists tailored to each user's tastes.
Cook told Rose that he thinks about Apple founder Steve Jobs every day, and that his office remains as it always was.
Jobs, "stood for innovation" said Cook.
He stood for innovation. He stood for the simple not the complex. He knew that Apple should only enter areas where we can control the primary technology.
All of these things are still deep in our company. They are still things that we very much believe. The strive for perfection, for being the best, for only doing the best products.
The second part of Cook and Rose's conversation will be broadcast tomorrow.