With Beats, Apple becomes bigger streaming music player

Beats headphones helped create a new premium category of product, but haven't always been considered best-in-class.

Still, over the years, the headphones have gotten a better rap. Headphones, however, may not be the driver behind Apple's reported purchase of the company for $3.2 billion. It could be the music service.

When it launched in January, Beats Music demand was so high that the company had to set up a virtual velvet rope to only allow users as space allowed. The service, which costs $10 monthly after an initial seven-day, added 1,000 a day during its first month.