It's official: Apple bought Beats for $3 billions

The official statement from Apple has finally come. The company announced the acquisition of Beats Electronics and Beats Music for the sum of $3 billion. Beats founders (Interscope-Geffen-A&M chairman Jimmy Iovine and hip-hop producer Dr Dre) will consequently be joining Apple in executive roles still to be defined.
Iovine also made the announcement he's leaving his role of chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M: John Janick has already been put in his place.

The news was in the air since the beginning of May and it was rumoured that Apple was closing in on a $3.2 billion deal to purchase the company, founded in 2006 by Iovine and Dr Dre.
Beats, besides being a steady and appreciated manufacturer of headphones and mobile speakers, in January also launched its own music streaming company (Beats Music). And the latter seems - according to insiders - to be the real reason of the acquisition by Apple.

Despite Beats Music has struggled since its Jan. 21 launch (with less than 200,000 subscribers as of last month, according to sources), it could play a big role in Apple’s gradual move away from downloads, which are on the decline, to on-demand streaming. Apple, indeed, could use Beats Music to finally make inroads into the growing streaming market.