Apple Music Execs Explain How They Plan To Change The Game
Apple Music's huge announcement on Monday came at a star-studded WWDC event featuring Drake and The Weeknd. But after the ceremony, some questions remained unanswered.
So, Rolling Stone caught up with Apple execs Jimmy Iovine and Eddy Cue to try to get more info about their new product. Here's a look at how they answered some burning questions.
Is Apple Music A Streaming Service?
Apparently, no.
"We're not a streaming service. That's not the way we think of ourselves. We think of this as a much bigger product that has a lot of features of it, of which a music subscription or streaming service is one of those." - Cue
What's The Void They See In Music?
According to Iovine, they're trying to fill a void.
"If we didn't think there was a hole, we wouldn't do it. Apple doesn't need to practice...The hole is service. People need service — great service where music is concerned." - Iovine
What Makes Them Think People Will Pay For Apple Music?
They believe history will repeat itself.
"People will pay for great services. They said they wouldn't pay 99 cents for a song but they did. We've always believed that." - Cue
Will They Describe The Payout Breakdowns In Detail?
No.
"We won't. We've always been very clear — the vast majority of the revenue we collect goes to the labels. The economics have always been the same. We have paid out many, many millions of dollars. What we've done and continued to do is hopefully get people to pay for these services that we think are great and we'll collect that money and pay the labels." - Cue
Where Was Dr. Dre At Apple's WWDC15?
Oh, don't worry. Dre was in the house.
"He was sitting right there, in the center, three rows back." - Cue
So Why Didn't We Hear From Dr. Dre?
The answer to that one is simple, really.
"Dre just doesn't talk a lot." - Iovine
In the interview, Iovine and Cue also discussed the importance of Apple Music's family plan and revealed that they have licensing deals with all major labels and some indies with plans on more artists soon.
What do you think? Will Apple Music succeed? Let us know in the comments.