SIGNALS

At a conference call this morning (January 10) Beats Electronics announced the formation of a new music streaming service, and named Ian Rogers as its CEO. You may recall that Beats purchased MOG last summer for $14 million; the announcement of Project “Daisy” provides hints on the new direction they intend to take MOG.

Details are still sketchy, but it appears that Daisy will be a music subscription service (at a “competitive” price) that will function like other music services – helping you navigate a giant jukebox in the sky and listen to its rich offerings. Interestingly, instead of faceless lists of titles, Daisy will endeavor to connect musicians and listeners in more diverse ways. The possibility of getting musicians and their advocates directly involved in streaming would make this new service uniquely musician-friendly, and could help it scale up quickly, and give it a special flavor among existing services. Given its corporate roots in both the music and hardware side of things, it’s entirely possible that Daisy could offer proprietary music, and be integrated into Beats hardware. But for now, that is just speculation.

Beats named Ian Rogers as the CEO of Daisy; Rogers headed Topspin, a music marketing company. Previously, Rogers was general manager of Yahoo! Music, and has been a principal at the Grand Royal record label. Rogers will keep his fingers in Topspin’s pie (Beats has invested in Topspin) and will also head MOG. Also, singer-songwriter and producer Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) will act as Chief Creative Officer at Daisy.

According to Rogers, “After years of fighting and uncertainty, it’s now undeniable all the world’s music will be available on every device by just clicking play. However, the current streaming experiences aren’t good enough. They aren’t good enough for fans, who need it to be easier to find music they love. And they aren’t good enough for artists, who want to grow their audiences and make money. This is the opportunity I’ve been working toward my entire career.”

Daisy will appear in mobile applications, as well as iOS, Android, Windows 8 and desktop. Although music licensing is profoundly complex across international boundaries, Daisy will aim to go global. Look for a launch in late 2013.