Apple Music remains a long way from being a finished product, according to Apple executive and Beats Electronics co-founder Jimmy Iovine.
In a new interview discussing the struggles of building a product that fuses the worlds of tech and music, Iovine revealed that the company wants to build a product that is more than just a utility for accessing your music or getting a weekly playlist.
Apple Music is the new MTV
“What we’re doing now that hasn’t been revealed yet, is we’re building the right hybrid. And we believe it’s the right hybrid, and the combination of these things together, we’ll build a music service that is technologically and culturally adept,” Iovine told Billboard.
Apple Music, which debuted more than 17 months ago, has already racked up 17 million paid subscribers. Its biggest rival, Spotify, has more than double that with 40 million paid subscribers, but Iovine sounds confident that Apple’s streaming service will become a much bigger draw for music fans.
“We are going to make a combination of tech and popular culture that is exciting and adept at both areas,” he said. “So that’s what you’re starting to see. It’s going to have a voice.”
Record labels have become hostile toward Apple Music in recent months because of exclusive record deals the iPhone-maker forged with artists like Drake, The Weeknd, DJ Khaled and Taylor Swift. Iovine insisted that Apple doesn’t want to squeeze out the labels, though.
“We are building something that can help labels and artists and undiscovered artists,” Iovine said. “Yeah, it’s a popular culture company, but it’s also a tool. And that’s what we’re building. We’re not in the record business.”
