(AllHipHop News) An esteemed music business insider could be parting ways with one of the biggest companies connected to the record industry. Billboard reports Jimmy Iovine is leaving Apple Inc in August.
Iovine has been working with Apple in an undefined capacity since 2014 after he and Dr. Dre sold Beats Electronics to the tech giant. The deal included the Beats Music streaming service which was eventually replaced by Apple Music.
Before his turn at the brand-Steve-Job-built, Iovine was the co-founder of Interscope Records. The label has been the home to Hip Hop stars such as Dr. Dre, 2Pac, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar, Jadakiss, French Montana, Pharrell Williams, and others.
“In 2003, I met Steve Jobs, and I felt about Steve Jobs the way I felt about the music industry when I first got into it,” said Iovine in a 2017 interview with OTHERtone. “I got into the music business because I wasn’t cool and I wanted to be cool. So I figured I could at least get close to cool. When I saw Steve Jobs, I said, ‘Uh oh, the party’s at Steve’s house.’ They were the cool thing now. At that moment, I aimed my car outside the record business.”
It’s not clear what the Brooklyn-born entrepreneur plans to do after exiting Apple. He did tell Billboard in September that the music business is not in his future.
“Not a chance. I can help from here. I can’t help from there. Let them make the music exciting and interesting. We will try to do everything that we can to create content around it, and make the delivery of it as exciting as possible,” said Iovine about his efforts at Apple.
He added, “I’m 64 years old. I have no idea [what I’m doing next]. There’s just a problem here that needs some sort of solution, and I want to contribute to it.”
Iovine’s life and career was chronicled in an HBO documentary titled The Defiant Ones. The four-part film also covered his long-standing relationship with Dr. Dre.
UPDATE:
Jimmy Iovine has responded to rumors he is leaving Apple. He claims he is committed to getting streaming right.
Variety quoted him saying, “My contract is up in August, but the funny thing is, I don’t have a contract. I have a deal, and certain things happen along that deal. The bottom line is I’m loyal to the guys at Apple. I love Apple, and I really love musicians. That’s why those articles annoyed me, because it had nothing to do with reality. It made it out to be all about money.”
