Beats Music US streaming to pump up the volume in the next few months

Beats Music streaming service
Just in case you 'forgot about Dre'

The long-rumored Beats Music streaming service isn't beating around the bush anymore, as the Dr. Dre-owned headphone brand said it intends to launch its "curated" song-playing service soon.

The Spotify rival will launch "within the next few months" in the U.S., according to Beats President and Chief Operating Officer Luke Wood, speaking with The Next Web.

It's music streaming capabilities are said to extend to the web and on devices running iOS and Android at first.

Windows 8 support, thought to be in the form of an app, is supposed to follow at "a later date," noted TNW.

A remix on the music streaming idea

Beats' move into the music streaming industry puts it in the middle of the Google Music vs Spotify rivalry that iTunes Radio just joined.

There are also other competitors like Rdio, Pandora, Deezer, Rhapsody and Grooveshark to worry about.

The difference between Beats Music and these other established streaming acts is that it is going to heavily focus on "human curation" of songs not just an algorithm-based approach.

"You need to start with a great editorial team that has a point of view, but we want to have a situation where we can really scale to the depth of your appetite," said Wood.

"If you really love music, we want something that can go deep with you for a really long time. And that requires a perfect harmony between the algorithm and human curation. Between the man and the machine."

This human curated playlist idea backs up a report from this past summer that indicated Beats could take advantage of its music industry connections by including playlists by famous artists and DJs.

Matt Swider