Music magazine Complex has a new interview out today with Apple Music’s top talent: Zane Lowe, Bozoma Saint John, and Larry Jackson. The piece is mostly reflective in looking back at the first year and a half of Apple’s subscription music business, but the three also talk about what it’s like competing with Spotify within Apple and the future of Apple Music.
Jackson and Saint John describe Apple Music as not just about music which echoes similar messaging in other recent interviews. Jackson says the company’s goal is to make Apple Music the “intersection of all things pop-culture” and not just a utility for streaming songs. Saint John calls Apple Music a “living, breathing brand.”
When asked about the challenge of getting artists to work with Apple Music, Lowe said artists like Drake understood Apple’s vision from the start while others took more finessing.
Trying to work out what our personality is, and how to define what Apple Music is going to be, that’s been happening in front of people.
When asked about lessons learned, Jackson goes straight to discussing being able to pivot. Apple Music started with a design that wasn’t as usable as what the service now provides, for example, and the company seems focused on using exclusive video to make Apple Music stand out from similar services.
The most discussion came about when asked about managing Apple Music as an effort within the larger company at Apple.
Jackson calls Apple Music’s work “a collaboration with artists.”
We can’t take credit for the work. Taylor Swift came in with a great idea earlier this year [for her 1989 World Tour documentary]. It’s just collaborating in a really beautiful sense.
When asked about the future of the music industry over the next decade, Saint John sounds optimistic about Apple Music’s role:
We’re developing something very special and we just want people to pay attention to it. My five-year vision is that I want every single person on the planet to be engaged on Apple Music. I truly believe we’ve created something very, very special. I don’t think anyone else can do this. I will scream from the mountain top until everyone knows.
The latest interview follows Jimmy Iovine’s similar recent comment that Apple Music is about pop culture and not just music as video efforts including a Carpool Karaoke spin-off and rumors about more video content surface. Check out the full interview here.
Image via Complex
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