‘Variety’: Jimmy Iovine is NOT leaving Apple

Oops, never mind. Even though Billboard reported that Apple Music exec Jimmy Iovine will depart the tech giant in August, around the time his company shares have fully vested, apparently he’s not leaving. He told Variety that he’s committed to staying on the Apple team and helping the company get music streaming right. 

“I am almost 65, have been with Apple for four years and in 2 1/2 years the [Apple Music] service has gotten to well over 30 million subscribers and Beats has continued its successful run,” he said. “But there’s still a lot more we’d like to do. I am committed to doing whatever Eddy [Cue], Tim [Cook] and Apple need me to do, to help wherever and however I can, to take this all the way. I am in the band.”

He also lauded Apple Music’s growth to more than 30 million paid subscribers in two-and-a-half years, as compared to Spotify, which has been around for 14 years (officially for 10) and claims more than 70 million subscribers.

Iovine is a record producer best known as the co-founder of Interscope Records and chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M. In 2006, Iovine teamed with Dr. Dre to found Beats Electronics (formerly known as Beats by Dr. Dre), a company which produces audio products and operated a now defunct music streaming service. The company was purchased by Apple for $3 billion in May 2014. Since the start of his career, Iovine has been involved in the production of more than 250 albums.