Skip to main content

Apple exec Jimmy Iovine talks Apple Music expansion

What's In Store For Apple Music Expansion?
The streaming music space is getting more crowded every day. Pandora, Spotify, Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Apple are all fighting for your ears, devices, and wallets. Apple executive Jimmy Iovine has recently addressed what the future may look like for Apple Music, and it’s not just about the ‘Tunes.

The music industry veteran spoke to the media at the annual Television Critics Association winter press tour on Saturday. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Iovine stated “At Apple Music, what we’re trying to create is an entire cultural, pop cultural experience and that happens to include audio and video. If South Park walks into my office, I am not going to say you’re not musicians, you know? We’re going to do whatever hits popular culture smack on the nose. We’re going to try.”

Recommended Videos

At this point, maybe some of Apple’s media divisions are due for a re-branding? After all, Apple Music tells the user “we do music.”

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Iovine was plugging his new HBO documentary The Defiant Ones, which centers on his musical partnership with Dr. Dre. You might recall that massive deal that brought Beats to the Apple ecosystem, and Dre and Iovine along with it.

Apple as a company has never been one to shy away from, as Iovine stated, “hit popular culture smack on the nose.” After all, one of its earliest ad campaigns centered around the phrase “Think Different.” So in its efforts to compete, company-created content is on the agenda. THR notes that Apple Music has already ventured into original programming “with the 2016 acquisition of the Carpool Karaoke series, based on the wildly popular Late, Late Show segment from James Corden and produced by CBS Television Studios.”

There’s also a six-episode series called Vital Signs, which Dr. Dre stars in and executive produces. THR adds that the series was “being eyed for Apple Music distribution, but as of February, it was unclear if Apple TV, the iTunes store or other Apple platforms (or even a traditional television distributor) would be involved. Vital Signs would mark the company’s first investment in scripted television.”

Brinke Guthrie
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Brinke’s favorite toys include his Samsung Galaxy Tab S, Toshiba Chromebook 2, Motorola Moto G4, and two Kindles. A…
Apple’s Dolby Atmos Music bounty could be a disaster for the format
dolby atmos music streaming debut on amazon hd launch

Apple is offering to pay artists more money if they provide Apple Music with versions of their songs recorded in the immersive Dolby Atmos Music format, according to a report from Bloomberg. On the surface, that makes a lot of sense, especially as Apple lays the groundwork for its soon-to-launch Apple Vision Pro headset, a device that will benefit greatly from immersive audio. But the move also could create exactly the wrong set of incentives at a time when the jury is still split over whether spatial audio for music actually is a good thing.

Apple has spent the past several years ramping up its support for spatial audio in general and Dolby Atmos specifically, through its AirPods family of wireless headphones, its Apple TV 4K streaming device, and virtually all of its computing products, too. Apple Music has a growing catalog of tracks in Dolby Atmos Music, and the Apple TV+ video streaming service offers Dolby Atmos soundtracks on nearly all of its movies and shows.

Read more
Got a PS5? Here’s how to get 6 free months of Apple Music
Apple Music on a PS5.

Apple is offering PlayStation 5 (PS5) owners six free months of its Apple Music streaming service.

In a deal with PlayStation maker Sony, Apple is letting PS5 owners enjoy all the benefits of the music streaming service, which offers around 100 million tracks for ad-free listening.

Read more
Apple quietly retires one of its Apple Music tiers
Apple Music plan with HomePod Mini and AirPods.

Apple is retiring its Voice plan for Apple Music that lets people use Siri to select tracks for $5 a month -- less than half the cost of the regular plan.

The tech giant introduced its most affordable Apple Music plan in 2021 but on Wednesday said in a message on its website that it’s ending the ability to sign up to it with immediate effect.

Read more