Bose to launch its own music streaming service?

Is global audio hardware company Bose about to launch its own music streaming service, to take on Apple’s Beats Music?

Rumours are rife after the company, best known in Australia for its speakers and headphones, posted a vacancy ad in job marketing website ZipRecruiter.

It read: “We are seeking an expert Experience Designer to lead design and prototyping of our next generation streaming music platform and ecosystem of products. [...] We will move quickly and have an immediate and lasting impact on Bose's streaming music products.”

It is looking for candidates who have previously worked on major streaming services as Beats, Pandora, Songza and Rhapsody. The successful applicant will join will join its “Algorithms & Cloud Experiences group.”

Analysts were skeptical about Bose’s chances in the crowded streaming sector unless it comes up with something really special or focuses on audiophiles. Even the much-hyped Beats Music only got about 111,000 subscribers in its first 100 days after its January launch in the United States.

Bose itself has not made an official announcement.

The rivalry between Framingham, Massachusetts-based Bose and Culver City, California-based Beats turned aggressive this year. In July, after Apple’s US$3 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics and Beats Music, Bose took Apple to court. It claimed Beats violated its five patents related to noise-cancelling technology, which it had for almost 40 years. The most recent headphones use sound waves to cancel out unwanted noise. Bose tried to block sales in America of Beats Studio and Beats Studio Wireless headphones.

Three months later, the two companies brokered an out-of-court settlement, and asked the US International Trade Commission in Washington D.C. to end its investigation.

As official headphone sponsor of America’s NFL, Bose banned Beats headphones from NFL games and press conferences. Players who wore Beats at games were fined. Apple responded by pulling from its retails stores all Bose products, which it not only sold but also used for product demos alongside its iOS and Mac products. Apple has since reversed this in time for the holiday sales.

According to recent reports, a 13% drop in iTunes music sales has led to Apple planning to rebrand or integrate Beats Music into iTunes in 2015.