There have been a lot of rumours recently that Apple will be shuttering Dr. Dre’s Beats Music, but the company has told press this morning that those rumors simply aren’t true. While Apple did purchase Beats Music back in May of this year, Apple has no plans to shut down the music service. However, the service will be altered according to Apple’s current plans.

Not Feeling Beats

While the Dr. Dre headphone brand is widely known, recognized, and purchased across the world, Dr. Dre’s Beats Music hasn’t been enjoying the same level of acceptance. Beats Music was launched this past January in the U.S., but the service simply hasn’t taken off. But Apple saw potential in the music service, which is why the company purchased the service to begin with.

Even though Apple will not be shutting down Beats Music, the company has told press that its not ruling out rebranding Beats. Apple told press that the company may fold Beats into iTunes, so that the two services work seamlessly together. This would mean that Apple’s iTunes will soon operate much like Spotify, but Apple will be using the Beats Music technology to make the whole thing work.

When Beats Will Arrive

Speculation is that Apple will offer the new iTunes and Beats music service as part of a subscription offer for every iPad and iPhone user. This would be similar to the 90-day Beats trial that is currently being offered to AT&T users in the United States. AT&T has teamed up with Beats Music to offer this trial version of the streaming service, so that AT&T users can get hooked on Beats and not wander to another service like Spotify. Seemingly, offering iPad and iPhone users a similar deal makes a good deal of sense.

It’s also important to note another reason why Apple won’t be shutting down Beats Music. When Apple purchased Beats Music in May, the contract included all of the people behind Beats Music. In other words, it wouldn’t make any sense for Apple to spend money on the people behind the music if the service is to be closed down completely (that would simply be money wasted). What you can expect to see, instead, is a new iTunes that is integrated into the Beats Music platform, or meshed together with Beats Music, so that Apple can effectively compete with Spotify.

Additional Details

Rebranding takes time, so it’s not likely that the new Beats Music will surface this year. If this writer had to guess, I’d put my money on a spring or summertime release date. But there’s always the possibility that Apple will save any music announcements for the upcoming iPad release spectacle, which will take place at the end of October.

It’s hard to say whether or not there’s room in the streaming music sphere for another service (after all, Beats didn’t have any success on its own). but it’s likely that Apple will find some way to integrate the two services, so that it’s hard for current Apple users to not give the service a try.