Beats by Dre, the headphone manufacturer launched by music producer and executive Jimmy Iovine and producer Dr. Dre in 2008, is launching a music streaming service called Daisy on January 21. The announcement comes after Beats Electronics’ purchase of MOG, an on-demand subscription service, in 2012. Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor has been name chief creative officer of the start-up.
Daisy, which will be supported on iPhone, Android and Windows Mobile phone, will roll out first in America and promises better music curation (courtesy of the folks at Rolling Stone and Pitchfork) and recommendation features. An upcoming marketing campaign will likely make the service omnipresent in the coming weeks. It will launch with a bundle package offered by AT&T ($10 for individual plans; $15 for a family plan with up to five users), regular plugs on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, promotions at Target and even a rumored Super Bowl ad.
The company is entering a field already occupied by Spotify, Google, Pandora and other services but Iovine is confident that he is bringing a game changer to the market. “What’s missing from the digital music landscape is a cultural context,” said Iovine in a press release. “We need to bring an emotional connection back to the act of music discovery. With Trent and now Ian we have the right team in place to do it.”
While many are already hoping that Beats Music lives up to the hype, here’s hoping that the new service is DJ-friendly.