Apple Might Intro Possible New Execs Dr. Dre and Iovine at WWDC

Is Apple (AAPL) on the verge of tapping Beats Electronics kingpins Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine as the newest members of the company’s top brass? Is Apple’s upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference June 2-6 in San Francisco the perfect venue for the vendor to present a new music subscription service and two new execs?

That’s the noisy chatter following Apple and Beats Electronics around as the two companies reportedly try to hammer out an acquisition deal some have pegged at $3.2 billion, a transaction that would represent by far Apple’s largest purchase ever. The consensus among sources buzzing about the deal is that it could be announced later this week. We’ll see.

Apple is said to be keenly interested in Beats Music, the newly launched music subscription service, which would give the iPod maker an instant door-opener into a rapidly growing segment now carved out by Pandora and Spotify in which users pay a monthly fee to subscribe to an unlimited amount of music of their choosing. Right now, Apple’s iTunes Store is the top digital music store in the United States, with more than 70 percent of song and album download sales.

Should the two companies find enough common ground to finish the transaction, both Dr. Dre and Iovine could join Apple is some executive capacity. Billboard pointed to one source that said Iovine could oversee all of Apple’s music strategy, including relationships with labels and publishers.

If Apple intros Dr. Dre at the WWDC next month, it would be his second appearance at an Apple event, Billboard said. Some 10 years ago ago, he congratulated Steve Jobs on launching the iPod and iTunes store via a video link at an Apple event.

Billboard noted that even though Apple is the music industry’s largest customer, the vendor has ruffled some feathers at times looking for ways to counteract slowing download sales.