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Apple to shut down Beats Music: Report

Beats headphones are sold in an Apple store in New York.
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Apple is in the process of shutting down the Beats streaming music service that it bought in May for $3 billion, according to a report in TechCrunch.

The move would be curious, as Apple paid what many considered to be a hefty sum for the headphones and streaming music service at the time.

It doesn't necessarily mean Apple's lost interest in streaming music, however. More likely it's an effort to unify brands, said the report.

According to sources interviewed by TechCrunch, engineers working on Beats have already been moved to other projects, like iTunes.

Apple didn't respond to a request for comment. Sources tell CNBC that Apple won't likely make any official announcements about the Beats business until 2015.

Read the full report at TechCrunch.

Update: Re/Code reports that the service that Beats Music provides won't go anywhere, but the brand name might not survive. Read the re/code.net coverage here.