Jimmy Iovine Breaks Down What’s Wrong With the Music Business, Warns Against Overoptimism in Streaming

Billboard (11/29/2017)
  • Jimmy Iovine (Co-Founder Interscope Records and Beats by Dre, CEO Apple Music) warns that subscription streaming services won’t bring back the music industry.
  • Despite streaming growth, music industry earnings are still half the early 2000s peak ($20 billion/year).
  • Iovine claims backers of streaming services don’t mind losing money since they help sell other profitable products (iPhones, Amazon Prime).
  • Unlike before, unsigned artists use free streaming (Soundcloud) to build large followings, forcing labels to give them favorable terms once they sign.