Tag Archives: Dr. Dre

Will the Truth Set Dr. Dre Free?

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Did Dr. Dre’s apology go far enough?

On August 21, hip-hop legend and now Apple consultant Dr. Dre issued a statement to The New York Times addressing longstanding reports about his history of violence against women, including a 1991 incident in which he attacked journalist Denise “Dee” Barnes in a nightclub (for which he later pleaded no contest on a misdemeanor battery charge). In the statement, Dre wrote, “I apologize to the women I’ve hurt. I deeply regret what I did and know that it has forever impacted all of our lives.” The apology came days after Barnes, along with R&B singer (and Dre’s former girlfriend) Michel’le and former label mate Tairrie B, spoke publicly of being assaulted by Dre when he was a rising hip-hop star as part of the hip-hop group NWA. Barnes openly criticized the recently released movie Straight Outta Compton for ignoring Dre’s violence against women. On August 21, Dre responded — as did Apple, which issued a statement saying that Apple believes Dre has cleaned up his act. But although Dre’s apology was a start, he still has work to do.

Reports about Dre’s violent behavior during his NWA days have circulated for years, only to be dismissed by the successful rapper, producer, and business impresario, who became an Apple consultant in 2014 when Apple bought Beats Music and Beats Electronics, which he cofounded. Those stories never seemed to create any serious PR problems for Dre until Straight Outta Compton was released on August 14, along with Compton, the soundtrack Dre recorded and distributed through Apple Music and iTunes. This time, reports about his past would not go away, prompting Dre to issue the following statement to The New York Times:

Twenty-five years ago I was a young man drinking too much and in over my head with no real structure in my life. However, none of this is an excuse for what I did. I’ve been married for 19 years and every day I’m working to be a better man for my family, seeking guidance along the way. I’m doing everything I can so I never resemble that man again. I apologize to the women I’ve hurt. I deeply regret what I did and know that it has forever impacted all of our lives.

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Apple Buys Beats: The End of an Era for Apple and Dr. Dre?

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Now that Apple has officially purchased Beats Music and Beats Electronics, we are left to ponder its broader meanings as the man who once rapped about gangbanging and reefer now becomes a high-profile Apple employee. I believe the deal symbolizes the possible end of an era: an end to Apple as an innovative brand, and a farewell to Dr. Dre as a music maker.

The Deal

As reported widely, Apple officially acquired music service Beats Music and Beats Electronics (which makes Beats headphones, speakers and audio software) for a total purchase price of $2.6 billion. As part of the deal, Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre have joined Apple to take on unspecified roles.

The acquisition is widely viewed as Apple playing catch-up to streaming services such as Spotify and Pandora. Apple’s own press release stressed the importance of Beats Music. As a sign of respect for the Beats brand (and lack of belief in its own), Apple will keep the subscription Beats Music intact, alongside Apple’s own iTunes Radio. Beats Music has hardly taken the world by storm as a streaming competitor to Spotify and Pandora since being launched in January 2014. But Apple Insider reports that the service has a strong conversion rate, with the vast majority of tracks being streamed by paying customers. Meantime, iTunes, which relies on a download model, has seen its sales slump as consumers latch on to streaming services. iTunes Radio, Apple’s answer to streaming, has yet to take hold.

Apple Buys into Innovation

When I first heard the rumors of Apple buying Beats weeks ago, I remembered back in 2011 Farhad Manjoo of Fast Company touting Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google as the four economic titans fueling the “great tech war,” pitted against each other in a “battle for the future of the digital economy.” Apple emerged as the clear favorite of consumer innovation, reeling off one game-changing product after another. Facebook? Well, Mark Zuckerberg was riding the momentum of a business built off one compelling idea, that as naturally social creatures, human beings would flock to a digital place where we could emulate our offline social behaviors online. But on top of the core innovation of launching Facebook, Zuckerberg’s massive wealth, and Facebook’s phenomenal growth, was built off pedestrian advertising programs and ongoing tweaks to the core product as opposed to anything newsworthy (unless by “newsworthy” we want to count noticeable gaffes such as Beacon).

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