Beats raises $60M to spin off ‘Daisy’ music service; may partner with Apple

Beats Electronics has secured a $60 million investment to spin off its forthcoming streaming music service Daisy into a separate entity, the company announced today.

The music service itself  is the first attempt by former Nine Inch Nails rocker Trent Reznor, along with Beat Electronics,  to reinvent the streaming music marketplace, which Pandora, Spotify, Rdio, and a few others dominate. Daisy was first announced back in December 2012, and has since added former Topspin head Ian Rogers as its CEO.

Right now we don’t know a lot about what the service will look like. However, if Beats CEO Jimmy Iovine’s recent comments are any indication, it seems like a sure bet that Daisy will lean towards curated playlists rather than an on-demand music library or algorithm-based smart radio stations.

Daisy may also be in discussions with tech giant Apple to pair the streaming service with iTunes, according to a Reuters report that cites anonymous sources familiar with the matter. If true, the $60 million investment makes much more sense, as Apple already has a strong grip over worldwide music sales as well as the music industry itself.

The new investment was led by Access Industries, Marc Rowan, James Packer, and others. The fresh capital will allow Daisy to become an independent company, which will launch its music service in late 2013.

We’ve pasted the full press release below:

Beats Electronics, LLC (Beats), the leading audio brand co-founded by legendary artist and producer Dr. Dre and Interscope Geffen A&M Chairman Jimmy Iovine, has secured a $60 million investment led by Access Industries (the industrial group founded by Len Blavatnik), Marc Rowan, James Packer and entities affiliated with Lee M. Bass for a new music service powered by Beats, internally dubbed “Daisy”. With this new capital, “Daisy” has become a stand-alone company and is set for launch in late 2013.

“Beats was always about helping people re-discover the magic in the experience of listening to music,” said Iovine. “ Now that we are well along the way to addressing the quality of audio playback with Beats headphones and speakers, Daisy allows us to re-introduce the same magic into the process of music discovery and consumption”.

This investment group brings significant expertise in music and subscription business, complimenting and extending the advantages already bestowed upon “Daisy” from its close relationship with and initial investment from Beats.

“Beats has the vision, the brand, the management team and now the investor group to effectively change the expectations and experiences of a music subscription service,” said Len Blavatnik. “I’m looking forward to taking on this exciting challenge together.”

Earlier this year Beats announced former Topspin head Ian Rogers will be Chief Executive Officer of “Daisy” and Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor will serve as the music service’s Chief Creative Officer. In 2012 the company also purchased digital music service MOG, which will provide the foundation platform for “Daisy”.

Investment Bank Moelis & Company acted as the exclusive financial advisor and placement agent for this raise.