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The stunningly successful career of Jimmy Iovine, the millionaire record mogul who’s shaping Apple’s music business
Charley Gallay/Getty
Jimmy Iovine.
Jimmy Iovine, the famous record producer and former chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M, became one of Apple’s newest executives last May.
In addition to becoming one of the most successful executives in the music industry as the head of Interscope, Iovine ran Beats Electronics with his long-time pal and business partner Dr. Dre. Apple bought Beats for $3 billion last year, bringing both Iovine and Dre into the company.
Iovine has had an insanely successful career so far —he’s worked with everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Lady Gaga to Eminem and John Lennon. Everyone who’s anyone in the music business has worked with or knows Jimmy Iovine.
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Here’s a look at his fabulous career so far.
Jimmy Iovine was born on March 11, 1953. He was raised in Brooklyn, where it was easy for him to attend shows in New York City. “It worried them [my parents] when I wanted to go to the Village to see Sly and the Family Stone or The Doors,” he told PBS. “They were scared stiff; they couldn’t relate to it.”
Source: PBS
Today Iovine says Bruce Springsteen is one of the biggest influences that drives his career. “My life changed because Bruce Springsteen got on a mic in front of me,” Iovine said to The New York Times. “That continued in my life over and over again, so I get the joke now. Artists have to be represented properly, and paid properly.”
Source: The New York Times
But long before Iovine became a household name in the music industry, he worked as a janitor at a recording studio in the 1970s. “I was able to watch,” Iovine said to The New York Daily News, “And from there I went to another studio. And I had three studio jobs — sort of like custodial, help out, set things up. And then eventually this guy Roy Cicala liked me and he put me in a studio and I kind of got started about 19 years old.”
Source: The New York Daily News
Iovine made a name for himself as a recording engineer and producer in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of the most notable records he worked on included John Lennon’s “Walls and Bridges,” Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run,” Patti Smith’s “Easter,” and Stevie Nick’s “Bella Donna.” He also worked with U2, the Pretenders, Meat Loaf, and Tom Petty among other artists.
After becoming a renowned music producer, Iovine moved on to found Interscope Records in 1989. He founded the company with Ted Field, whom he met through a mutual friend. Tupac Shakur was signed as one of Interscope’s earliest artists in 1991, and it quickly became one of the hottest record labels of the decade. Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg were both signed to Interscope early on, too.
Although Interscope Records started as a rap-heavy label, it quickly expanded into all kinds of genres including rock, pop, and R&B. Interscope Geffen A&M’s roster now includes Eminem, Lady Gaga, Lana Del Rey, Kendrick Lamar, and Madonna among others. Iovine was the chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M for 25 years until he joined Apple.
Source: Interscope
Iovine was particularly influential in shaping Eminem’s career. He and his future business partner Dr. Dre backed the rapper since his early days, and Iovine even produced the film “8 Mile.”
He’s also known for being really persistent. He once called an executive at another label every day at 3 p.m. for a year to seal a business deal.
Source: The New York Times
Pop star Gwen Stefani is no stranger to Iovine’s relentlessness. She referred to being stuck in “Jimmy jail,” which is when Iovine sends his artists back to the studio over and over again to “write that last track, that career changing track.”
Source: The New York Times
Iovine founded Beats with Dr. Dre in 2006, with the first pair of headphones being released in 2008.
Source: Beats
Since then, Beats by Dre. headphones have been endorsed by celebrities such as Lebron James, Lil Wayne, and Will.i.am.
Iovine also lent his experience in the music business to the Fox TV show American Idol, where he was featured as a mentor to the contestants from 2011-2013. He was known for being tough but honest.
Source: The New York Times
In May 2014, Apple purchased Beats for $3 billion. The purchase included the Beats headphone line as well as its streaming music service, Beats Music, which now powers Apple Music.
But Iovine was connected to Apple long before the Beats deal went down. In fact, Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVP of online services, said Iovine was one of the first people Apple showed iTunes to before it launched.
Source: The New York Times
Iovine was close with Steve Jobs, too. He had been visiting Apple’s campus twice a week since 2004.
Source: Inc.
Iovine recounted his last conversation with Jobs, in which the late Apple CEO said to him: “You know, you’re one of the few people–if not the only person–who came out of software and made a piece of hardware successfully.”
Source: Inc.
Iovine has called his work with Apple as the “second phase of my music career.” The Apple buyout is said to have earned both Iovine and Dre hundreds of millions.
Source: The New York Times
Months after news of the acquisition was announced, Iovine purchased the $60 million Malibu home that previously belonged to TV producer Marcy Carsey.
Source: Curbed
Now, Iovine has his talents focused on Apple Music, the company’s streaming service that launched in June and has already amassed 11 million subscribers. And he’s confident that he’s hired the right people to lure music fans to Apple’s service over its competitors. “I don’t look at Spotify or Rdio or any of these guys as a direct competitor, I look at other forms of entertainment as the competitor,” he said to the Evening Standard. “Not everybody can do this but I think the team I’ve put together can. I always say, I love chocolate but I’m not Willy Wonka.”
Source: The Evening Standard
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