They'll get 2 massive names if this turns out to be true.
Jimmy Iovine is one of the most influential people in the music business (he makes Simon Cowell look like an apprentice).
I'd imagine this is what they want, as may well be the bridge to the Apple equivalnet of Spotify that everybody wants.
Secondly, Dre is also a massive worldwide name and apparently there's a huge percentage of African Americans (is it just me that dislikes that expression?) that use Android handsets, so maybe Apple have decided he's a good way to tap into that market and sell more iPhones?
Also, from a marketing perspective, Iovine & Dre have done a remarkable job with Beats-from what I've read, they are very bass heavy and give poor quality to other brands that cost less, but nonetheless, people lap them up at the prices they ask (having them worn by most of the NBA, the NFL and countless other music and rap stars won't have hurt either.
Iovine was also part of American Idol a couple of years ago and I remember saying to my wife at the time about how much Beats product placement there was.
It was pretty much every shot that involved him, had a Beats item in it (even if he wasn't in shot)-it might be a lone Microphone, a set of ear/headphones, but the placement was unmissable.
It was only after Googling, I discovered that he was head of Beats.
Lastly, I'm not convinced this is just about expensive (and profitable) headphones and the Beats music streaming service, I have a feeling that Apple's incoming iWatch will play some part in this too.
Beats headphones are as much a fashion accessory as they are a pair of headphones (more so if you listen to the audiophiles who constantly go on about how crap they are!) and that might just fit in nicely with the incoming iWatch (from a 'marketing to fashion the fashion conscious' point of view).
I'm not for one moment suggesting that Apple will release the iWatch equivalent of a set of Beats headphones, but I do just feel there's a crossover that no one has considered yet