Beats Audio is planning to launch Daisy, its foray into the streaming music market this fall — and there's no question it wants to make a big splash when it does. To that end, the company is working to partner with AT&T and use the wireless carrier's marketing muscle to steal mindshare from entrenched competitors like Spotify. As reported by CNET, Beats co-founder and CEO Jimmy Iovine has been in meetings with executives from both AT&T and the music labels, trying to hammer out a deal that would likely give AT&T customers a free trial period as part of their data plans.
It's a logical plan for Beats and Daisy, as having a good mobile experience will be a major component of whether or not the new service will be able to gain traction with consumers. While it's still not fully clear how exactly Daisy will differentiate itself, but we do know that the service will use a combination of advanced algorithms and recommendations from "music connoisseurs" to offer a better recommendation experience. Back in December, chief creative officer and Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor described it as "a platform in which the machine and the human would collide more intimately."
This isn't the only big partner Beats has gone after lately — back in March, The Verge reported that billionaire mogul Len Blavatnik led a group that invested $60 million in Daisy. Blavatnik, who acquired Warner Music Group in 2011, made the investment through his firm Access Industries; it remains an interesting investment for Blavatnik considering the fact that Iovine is one of the top executives at WMG's competitor Universal Music Group. Despite the business politics, it looks like Daisy has both the cash it needs and may soon have the support of the country's second-largest wireless carrier, as well. If the deal with AT&T doesn't go through, CNET says Iovine will continue shopping his service around to other carriers.