Jimmy Iovine reportedly denies he's leaving Apple
The head of Apple Music says he's "loyal to the guys at Apple," according to a report by Variety.
Jimmy Iovine says he actually doesn't plan to leave Apple in August.
Jimmy Iovine says he's still "committed" to Apple.
The music mogul on Tuesday shot down rumors he's planning to leave Apple in August after his stock fully vests, according to a report by Variety.
Last week, the music industry blog Hits Daily Double and Billboard reported Iovine is leaving the company, which he joined in 2014 when the iPhone maker bought his company, Beats, for $3 billion. Apple used Beats Music as the backbone for Apple Music, a $10 per month streaming music service meant to rival Spotify and Tidal, the streaming app started by Jay-Z.
But Iovine this week denied the headlines.
"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, according to Variety. "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."
Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Iovine's comments come as tech giants have made big investments in the digital music. Google-owned YouTube is trying to court the record industry and has signed deals with the world's three largest music labels: Warner, Universal Music Group and Sony. Facebook followed suit by signing its own deals with the Universal and Sony.
As for Iovine, he says he's not done at Apple -- at least not for now.
"My contract is up in August, but the funny thing is, I don't have a contract. I have a deal, and certain things happen along that deal," he continued in the Variety story. "The bottom line is I'm loyal to the guys at Apple. I love Apple, and I really love musicians. That's why those articles annoyed me, because it had nothing to do with reality. It made it out to be all about money."
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