Q&A with Jimmy Iovine about music industry's reconciliation with tech in the last decade, why streaming music services are like utilities with low margins, more
The record executive who made the leap to Silicon Valley looks back on the decade in the music business, and sees a major problem on the horizon.
New York Times Ben Sisario
Related Coverage
- Jimmy Iovine, the legendary music executive who helped create Apple Music, thinks streaming has a margins problem Business Insider · Charlie Wood
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- Jimmy Iovine talks Beats, Apple Music, and streaming wars in new interview iMore · Joe Wituschek
- Jimmy Iovine explains why he left Apple Music, the problem with streaming music services, more 9to5Mac · Chance Miller
- Streaming music has changed how we listen to music iDownloadBlog.com · Peter Cohen
Discussion
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@ballmatthew
Matthew Ball
on x
Jimmy Iovine basically sums up how brutally incorrect the “long-tail” is. Somehow, despite increased access, a diminished role of gatekeepers, and more content than ever, monoculture is only growing (CC @aweissman, @Lucas_Shaw, @DKThomp) https://www-nytimes-com.cdn.ampproject. or…
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@jeremiahlee
Jeremiah Lee
on x
Spotify's primary innovation was not technology, but licensing—and even then, Rhapsody, Lala, and Rdio were the trailblazers. When I worked at Spotify, I reminded my coworkers to stay humble: anyone with enough lawyers can now start a music streaming company. /cont https://twitte…
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@nytimes
@nytimes
on x
“The streaming business has a problem on the horizon, and so does the music business. That doesn't mean they can't figure it out,” Jimmy Iovine told @sisario. https://www.nytimes.com/...
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@katjetson
Kat Jetson
on x
I don't need to read this article to tell you that I shed no tears for the music industry. For YEARS the industry sold “50 cents to produce” CDs for $19, and will eat their young to make money. They also racked up huge amounts of debt for little bands on big labels in the 90s/00s…
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@jszanchi
Jean-Sbastien Zanchi
on x
« And the streaming music services are utilities — they're all the same. Look at what's working in video. Disney has nothing but original stuff. Netflix has tons of original stuff. But the music streaming services are all the same, and that's a problem. » https://www.nytimes.com/…
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@trengriffin
Tren Griffin
on x
“What happens when something is commoditized is that it becomes a war of price. If you can get the exact same thing next door cheaper, somebody is going to enter this game and just lower the price. Spotify's trying with podcasts. Who knows?” https://www.nytimes.com/...
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@sammyandrews
Sammy Andrews
on x
'The two sides don't speak the same language. Content doesn't know what technology is building. And engineers are just going by the way they see a problem. The streaming business has a problem on the horizon, and so does the music business.' https://www.nytimes.com/...
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@mattrosoff
Matt Rosoff
on x
This has always been the case, and why digital music has been such a terrible business for the most part: “At Netflix, the more subscribers you have, the less your costs are. In streaming music, the costs follow you.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
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@aservais1
Alain Servais
on x
Jimmy Iovine, dedicated collector of contemporary art Knows Music & Tech. Here's Why He's Worried. The record executive who made the leap to Silicon Valley looks back on the decade in the music business, and sees a major problem on the horizon. By @sisario https://www.nytimes.com…
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@punchdouble
Dennis de Groot
on x
“Quality — of everything you do. Make quality the priority, not speed. Speed is marketing, but you have to have something great to market.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
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@nytimesmusic
@nytimesmusic
on x
Jimmy Iovine: “One of the reasons I left music was because there wasn't a kind of music that I related to.” https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
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@drgonzo123
Dennis Detwiller
on x
“So hail to the artists, because in the end they're winning. It isn't their problem to figure out how the streaming company and the record company are going to make more money.” Iovine has some smart things to say. The future is creator owned. https://www.nytimes.com/...