Rich Ukrainian Guy Joins James Packer As Investor In Dr Dre’s New Music Streaming Service
File under: Least fun ways to waste $60 million
Hey, streaming music fans – are Pandora, Spotify, Rdio, Xbox Music, JB Hi-Fi NOW, Deezer and Rara just not doing it for you? Never fear, Daisy is coming. The Internet music service, due to launch in late 2013, is the brainchild of Interscope chairman Jimmy Iovine and hip-hop mogul Dr Dre.
While there’s hardly a shortage of streaming music services, there are obviously some who believe in Daisy’s potential – Warner Music Group owner (and Ukrainian petrochemicals oligarch) Len Blavatnik dropped a cool $60 million ($58.6 AUS) on the service this week, joining a group of investors that already includes media scion James Packer and private equity billionaire Marc Rowan.
What’s Daisy all about, and what will give it the edge over its many competitors? Little is known at this stage, other than the fact that the service will allow users to create their own playlists from an existing catalogue of music. Iovine says that the service will stand out thanks to an understanding of the relationship between artists and fans.
“What’s missing from the digital music landscape is a cultural context,” Iovine said. “We need to bring an emotional connection back to the act of music discovery. With Trent Reznor and now Ian [Rogers, formerly of Topspin Media], we have the right team in place to do it.”
Dr Dre’s company, Beats, has apparently reached out to Apple CEO Tim Cook about a potential partnership – while it’s still not clear how that would work, it might be the edge Daisy needs to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
Will the internet embrace yet another streaming music service? Either way, if anyone reading this has a spare $60 million lying around, please consider investing in Squishy, my combined music streaming service and stress ball. You can squeeze it while listening to some totally chill tunes.
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Alasdair Duncan is an author, freelance writer and video game-lover who has had work published in Crikey, The Drum, The Brag, Beat, Rip It Up, The Music Network, Rave Magazine, AXN Cult and Star Observer.