Bose wants to launch a streaming music service
Bose doesn't want to rely solely on fashionable audio gear to compete with the likes of Beats and Sonos --it's venturing into the online music space, too. Hypebot highlights a job listing for a senior designer that would help shape a "next generation streaming music platform" and a matching "ecosystem of products." Just what it would entail isn't clear, but the future recruit would ideally have experience at a big-name streaming service, whether it's Beats, Pandora or Spotify.
We've asked Bose if it can elaborate on its plans, although it's likely still early in development if it hasn't hired key architects. It's not hard to see where the company could go, though. A music service would give Bose a direct equivalent to Beats Music, at a minimum; it's something to pitch to customers at the same time as they pick up new headphones. That could create problems for Bose's relations with Apple in the long run, since it only recently got some products back into Apple stores. The crew in Cupertino may be less than enthusiastic about selling devices that undermine Beats headphones, Beats Music and iTunes in one fell swoop.
However, a music service may play an important role in networked devices like the company's SoundTouch speakers. It would give newcomers something to play without having to check out competitors, and might keep them locked to buying Bose hardware in the future. There's no telling that such a strategy would work -- Sonos' speakers have done well without a first-party service, thank you -- but it could give Bose an advantage in the increasingly cutthroat home audio world.
[Image credit: Jimmy Thomas, Flickr]
