The former Interscope CEO joined Apple in 2014 after selling Beats, the the music service and electronics business that he and Dr. Dre co-founded, to the tech giant for $3 billion. It is believed his departure is timed to his Apple shares fully vesting, sources tell Billboard. Apple declined to comment.
Apple bought Beats, and Iovine, for his connections in the industry and that has helped Apple get a strong foothold with artists. I’m not really sure what Iovine’s departure would mean for Apple Music because his daily role has diminished over time.
Iovine and Beats accomplished what for Apple? Heard quite a bit about his connections, his knowledge of the music industry, his ability with contracts at the time, but very little sign of that in anything Apple has done. IMHO the acquisition and acqui-hire was a bust for Apple.
Beats brought Beats Music( formerly MOG) which brought existing license agreements which accelerated Apple’s launch of Music.
Apple has had what – a couple of short lived exclusives during his time? Apart from that its really hard to distinguish Apple Music from Spotify. All the features like Beat 1 radio where there from day one and not much else since.
So Jimmy has basically had a “worst dressed” competition with Eddy and now he is bailing with his share money.
youre nuts. Beats were the #1 selling accessory in the Apple Stores, they have a huge profit margin. they were so profitable Apple made their money back in the first year. plus they got a streaming service, and the most popular brand of headphones (regardless of what techies or audiophiles think of their quality).
dont quit your day job, leave making money to the pros.
nope, youre missing the forest from the trees. Apple got subscribers who wouldnt otherwise. like my household — no interest in Spotify, or streaming-only apps. But Apple Music? It fully integrates into my existing off-line music library for a seamless experience, and isn’t like a streaming app at all. Now we’re paying subscribers.
I believe Apple places accessory sales in the Other category, correct? I take it that’s your own ROI estimate.
I’d like to think that, as publicly inarticulate as he occasionally was, Iovine also opened some doors that Cue couldn’t get through on his own.
Once Apple Music was up and running, I’d also guess Iovine had few interesting reasons to stick around, and that this would’ve been part of his arrangement with Apple in the first place.
That’s the story that has been told since the acquisition – Iovine’s deep knowledge and contacts with the music industry – but it is very difficult to find any evidence that ever happened. Forest, trees, day job: I call bust.
I call “you weren’t in the room, and none of us will likely ever hear about the details of any of those meetings.”
I call, neither were the people who post breathlessly about Iovine’s tremendous contract signing ability on behalf of Apple.
Okay, you win. Apple is doomed.