Billboard:

It’s been three and a half years since Jimmy Iovine left his role as CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M to run Apple Music, but that doesn’t keep him from thinking about the problems facing labels today — or the rest of the industry for that matter.

Over a dinner recently at NeueHouse Hollywood in Los Angeles with Iovine and Allen Hughes, who directed the four-part documentary series, The Defiant Ones — which focuses on storied careers of Iovine and Dr Dre., his partner in developing Beats Electronics — a handful of journalists lobbed questions at and shared their thoughts with the iconic exec.

This was a fascinating read. Not too long, and completely Jimmy.

Just a little taste:

It’s not the price point that’s the problem for streaming services. It’s the free alternatives that are undermining the system in a way film and television streaming platforms are not forced to manage. He pointed to Netflix as a prime example, spending $6 billion on original content in 2017, while charging customers $9.99 or $11.99 for unlimited access to its unique offerings — including TV and film they exclusively license. Meanwhile in contrast, by and large, all music digital streaming platforms offer the same material.

And:

Put yourself in Kansas without a job and YouTube is free, Pandora is free, Spotify is free…. If there’s a restaurant down the street with the exact same food as this restaurant that’s on a mountain with a view, only this one’s for free, a lot of people are gonna eat there. They’ll use paper towels, they don’t give a shit about napkins.

A great read, well worth your time.