Late last night, TechCrunch reported that Apple was going to 'discontinue' Beats Music.
The tech site cited 'five sources' that included 'several prominent employees at Apple and Beats', revealing that the Cupertino firm was keen to shut down the streaming service.
It seems the article is only a half truth however, as Apple has now patently affirmed the contrary, with Apple's PR rep Tom Neumayr telling Recode the story is 'not true'.
Recode did, however, report that Apple might be modifying Beats Music in the form of a departure from the current branding.
TechCrunch responded to Apple's clarification, writing: "This aligns with what my sources said, which is that the Beats Music brand will be shut down, but that it's unclear what Apple wants to do in streaming music."
"It seems quite possible that te Beats Music product could be rolled into iTunes rather than being 'shuttered', but that's semantics."
It seems that the issue is the result of a confusion over the term 'shut down'. Apple says it's not going to kill of Beats Music, but it could be argued that a complete absorption into iTunes is very much the same thing.
It's also worth noting that while it's still early days in the Apple/Beats merger, Cook & Co. made no mention of the audio firm during the recent keynote, and none of the new products have shipped with Beats Music built in.
This could be a signal that Beats may in fact be undergoing a re-branding process internally, which still could result in the complete destruction of 'Beats' as we know it.
