The Beats Music brand could be singing its last tune.
According to a report published by TechCrunch, Apple has begun to wind down the streaming music service that it acquired in May, with many of its staffers already moved onto other projects at Apple. ITunes is said to be one of them.
Beats Music CEO Ian Rogers already has been put in charge of iTunes Radio, with the Beats Music technology likely to be integrated into that service, sources say.
Beats Music has not been heavily promoted during Apple’s recent product demonstrations, including the launch of its new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, as well as its Apple Watch.
In fact, the new smartphones do not include Beats Music pre-loaded as an app — an unusual move and sign that Apple has other plans for Beats Music’ technology. U2’s free album was offered through Beats Music.
While the Apple Watch, out next year, will include a music app, Beats Music wasn’t mentioned during its launch demo.
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The confusion two separate music services could generate among consumers is said to be one of the reasons Apple is making the move to close Beats Music. Apple also had shut down another streaming service, Lala, after acquiring it.
While Apple isn’t expected to entirely do away with Beats Music, the company is rethinking whether to still operate it as a separate brand, sources also confirmed to Re/Code.
While Beats Music has the Beats headphone brand helping put it in the spotlight, the service has struggled to compete against more established online players like Spotify, Pandora, Rdio and Google Music.
It had just 111,000 paying subscribers in March, and 250,000 in May, according to Jimmy Iovine. That’s compared to 10 million for Spotify.
Beats Music was part of the $3 billion purchase of Beats Electronics Apple made in August.
SEE ALSO: Apple Completes $3 Billion Beats Deal
Apple said it had no official plans to “shutter” the service, but did not provide more details on how it might be used in the future.
Apple is having to take a close look at its iTunes business as digital music sales fell 13.3% in 2013, whereas streaming grew 32% last year in the U.S.
