Beats CEO Jimmy Iovine Recently Met With Apple Executives About His Subscription Music Service

Apple executives met with Beats Electronics CEO Jimmy Iovine in January to discuss a potential partnership with Beats' announced music subscription service called "Project Daisy". CEO Tim Cook and SVP of Internet Services Eddy Cue reportedly expressed interest in the service's "business model and its rollout plans" according to Reuters.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook met with Beats CEO Jimmy Iovine during a visit to Los Angeles in late February to find out more about Beats' "Project Daisy", a music subscription service the company announced in January but with scant detail, the sources said.

Apple's Internet products chief Eddy Cue, a key player in setting up its iTunes Music Store, also joined the meeting, at which Cook expressed interest in Daisy's business model and its rollout plans, although the two did not discuss specifics of a deal, the sources said.

Iovine pitched Steve Jobs on a subscription music service a decade ago, but Jobs felt the prices record companies were charging were too steep and would eventually come down.

There have been rumors for nearly five years about Apple developing a subscription music service, though more recent reports have suggested that Apple is aiming to release its service sometime in 2013.

Bloomberg reported in October that Apple was aiming for a first quarter launch, but record labels have suggested that negotiations were hung up over licensing fees.