Beats is looking to strike a deal with AT&T to help launch its music streaming service, Project Daisy.
Project Daisy is due to launch in the coming months and, according to the “people familiar with the talks”, co-founder and CEO of Beats Electronics Jimmy Iovine is looking to sign a marketing deal with American network provider AT&T.
In the past month, Iovine has reportedly been in talks with major music labels and AT&T with the aim of bundling the upcoming music streaming service with the American network’s data plans in order to rapidly build a large user base.
The bundle could offer AT&T customers a free trial period of the Daisy service, later offering a reduced subscription package. The talks are currently based around how much free music to put on the table and who would incur the costs for all those free trials, say the sources.
Still in the very early stages, the deal could help Daisy compete against rivals like Spotify, Rdio and the incoming Google Music All Access service, not to mention iTunes Radio.
The Beats music streaming service idea was originally sparked by the company’s purchase of on-demand subscription service MOG. Iovine always planned to combine the Beats brand with MOG’s streaming technologies to form Project Daisy.
With Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor as Daisy’s Chief Creative Officer, Beats’ streaming service will separate itself from competition by combining the human touch with discovery algorithms.
Iovine has already enlisted top artists, DJs and other music experts to create Daisy playlists for subscribers.
“Most tech companies never get curation right,” said Iovine at an AllThingsD conference earlier this year. “It’s not in their culture. We will be miles ahead of them. If you are going to the gym five days a week, we know that, and when you wake up we will have a list for you.”
Spotify has also been trying to strike similar network provider deals in the US, but hasn’t managed to make any of them stick. However, Spotify already has around 24 million active users worldwide.
Next, read our iTunes Radio vs Spotify feature.
Via: CNET
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