Beats Audio CEO Urged Jobs to Create Subscription Music in 2002

 

"CEO Jimmy Iovine sheds light on the early influences that former Apple CEO Steve Jobs considered when iTunes was still in its infancy. According to the interview, Mr. Iovine strongly urged Mr. Jobs to create a subscription music service over 10 years ago, but the Apple CEO was hesitant.

Mr. Iovine became determined to launch a music subscription service in the early 2000s after witnessing the music industry’s inability to adapt to the online digital music revolution. He took his concerns to the heads of several tech companies but wasn’t able to convince them of the strategy’s importance. Only late Apple CEO Steve Jobs “smelled it the most,” Mr. Iovine told AllThingsD.

Despite the forward-thinking mentality that Mr. Jobs was known for, even he was not initially sold on the idea of an online subscription service, according to Mr. Iovine"