Jimmy Iovine has again hinted at the streaming work he is doing for Apple following the purchase of his Beats headphones company, with the music mogul insisting that his work is 'filling a hole' in the Cupertino giant's service.
Iovine and Dr Dre's Beats was a high-profile purchase for Apple, but although the ubiquitous headphones are part of the bigger picture, the real excitement is in how the new arrival will influence Apple's music streaming service.
Speaking to GQ, as he was named one of their men of the year, Iovine confirmed that he is hard at work on an Apple music service, and suggested that it was an obvious gap for the company to fill.
"When I go up to Apple to work on this music service we're doing, I'm in it. I'm in that spot from 1973, in the studio, just saying, 'I've gotta crack the code on this thing.' But I got it. It doesn't have me. The holy grail is peace, with ambition. Otherwise, you've wasted your life," he said.
Streaming wins
"I convinced them that they had to buy [Beats]. I said, 'I don't want to work for anybody else. I want to do this at Apple.'
"I know I can achieve this at Apple. I don't want to shop it. I wanna come here, to Steve's company. I know you guys; I know what you're capable of; I know you get popular culture. I know you have a hole in music right now; let me plug it. I think it was two years before they said yeah.
"After Steve died, and with the rise of streaming, I could see they needed something. Beats Music fit."
If he and Apple get it right then it could potentially be a disruptive music experience, If they get it wrong, of course, we can look forward to a Beats down.
