Apple Music could turn itself into a video streaming giant
The tech giant is looking to take its music service into new territory and create a unique type of service, says a report.
Record industry guru Jimmy Iovine has big plans for Apple Music, according to a Bloomberg report. In the coming months and years, the service will begin to expand into video content creation, the news outlet says. Early on the list of potential projects: a sequel to R. Kelly's YouTube series.
Other projects Iovine is working on include a bio-series on Dr. Dre, and various unnamed ideas with producer Brian Grazer ("Empire," "A Beautiful Mind") and director J.J. Abrams ("Westworld," Star Wars), the report says. Apple didn't respond to a request for comment about Bloomberg's report.
Separately, Billboard on Thursday reported that Sean "Diddy" Combs' new documentary, "Can't Stop Won't Stop: A Bad Boy Story" will be shown exclusively on Apple Music starting June 25. The film, by the artist better known as Puff Daddy, documents his rise in the music business in the mid-90s. It debuted Thursday at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
"I went to the [Bad Boy Reuion] concert and thought it was incredible," Jimmy Iovine, head of Apple Music, told Billboard. "I think Puff and Bad Boy's story is incredible and one that a lot of people can relate to in any genre or in any business. His story is powerful. He really overcame a lot to get to where he's at today and the documentary shows that."
Whether Apple Music aims to bridge the video/music streaming gap between services like Netflix and Spotify remains to be seen, but its reported focus on that space is interesting. Not only could music videos, live music and music-oriented series find a home there -- Apple Music is also considering shorter content, like a Carpool Karaoke series spun off of "The Late Late Show with James Corden." The first episode of that spinoff, featuring Alicia Keys and John Legend, is due to come out later this year.
CNET's Shara Tibken contributed to this report.
First published April 27, 9:36 a.m. PT.
Update, April 28 at 12:10 p.m. PT: Adds information about Puff Daddy's film.