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HITS Daily Double

Beats-MOG a Done Deal?

THE BEATS GO ON AT MOG: Looks like that Beats deal to acquire music subscription service MOG is pretty much done. Various reports peg the buying price at $14 million. MOG boasts just 500k active users, with approximately 10% of them, or 50k, paying customers at either $5 a month (for PC-only service) or $10 a monh (for mobile access). Beats parent company HTC has been looking to roll out its own music subscription service for its hand-held mobile phones and devices, and has eyed MOG hoping to avoid licensing, though apparently a clause in the original deals means any new owner has to re-up with the licensors, i.e. the major labels. UMG, which still owns a minority interest in Beats, is expected to be amenable, as will Sony, but right now, the real question surrounds WMG, which has been noticeably stubborn in this area, as noted in their contentious dealings with Spotify. (3/27p)