--- description: Apple is said to be looking to bolster its streaming music business with a possible acquisition of Beats Electronics. title: What's Behind Apple's Possible Beats Buy? image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc79e66e00c0a515/69868eb7e8524bae12602d00/beats-1280x720.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # What's Behind Apple's Possible Beats Buy? by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 9, 2014 6:33 PM CUT  What’s Behind Apple’s Possible Acquisition Of Beats Electronics What’s Behind Apple’s Possible Acquisition Of Beats ElectronicsSimon Burchell – Getty Images by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 9, 2014 6:33 PM CUT Apple [is said to be looking to bolster](http://time.com/93557/apple-beats/ "undefined") its streaming music business with a possible acquisition of Beats Electronics. Why would Apple want to [buy](http://time.com/93260/apple-in-talks-to-buy-beats/ "undefined") the company? The reported $3.2 billion price tag would be Apple’s largest single acquisition to date. From the iconic Beats headphones to streaming music, the buyout makes a lot of sense: the era of digital downloads is coming to an end and Apple is still without its own truly successful streaming music service. If completed, the deal would be Apple CEO Tim Cook’s boldest move yet to place his own signature on the tech giant, more than two years after the death of co-founder Steve Jobs. Watch the video above for more. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/94479/apple-beats-buy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/94479/apple-beats-buy/"},"headline":"What's Behind Apple's Possible Beats Buy?","datePublished":"2014-05-09T18:33:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:02:12.420Z","description":"If completed, the deal would be Apple's largest-ever acquisition","url":"https://time.com/94479/apple-beats-buy/","keywords":["Tech","Apple","Companies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc79e66e00c0a515/69868eb7e8524bae12602d00/beats-1280x720.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc79e66e00c0a515/69868eb7e8524bae12602d00/beats-1280x720.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"What’s Behind Apple’s Possible Acquisition Of Beats Electronics","caption":"What’s Behind Apple’s Possible Acquisition Of Beats Electronics","creditText":"Simon Burchell – Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/94479/apple-beats-buy/","name":"What's Behind Apple's Possible Beats Buy?"}}]}] ```