Jimmy Iovine was always a big player in the music industry but it’s only recently that he’s come into the public eye, thanks in large part to the purchase of Beats, the company he co-founded with Dr Dre, by tech giant Apple.
Iovine is now a proud Apple staffer, sitting as one of the figureheads of Apple’s new streaming service. He recently appeared on American morning show CBS This Morning to discuss Apple’s new women-focused marketing campaign.
Apple recently unveiled a new campaign featuring Mary J Blige, Kerry Washington, and Taraji P Henson in a series of television ads, in which the three women compare Apple Music’s playlist curation to a “boyfriend that makes you a mixtape.”
If your eyebrow is already raised, wait for this: “So I always knew that women find it very difficult at times – some women – to find music. And this helps makes it easier with playlists, curated by real people. They’re not made by algorithms alone – they’re made by algorithms but with a human touch.”
That’s what Iovine told CBS about the reasoning behind Apple’s new campaign. It didn’t end there: “I just thought of a problem, you know: girls are sitting around, you know, talking about boys. Or complaining about boys, you know, when they’re heartbroken or whatever.”
“And they need music for that, right? So it’s hard to find the right music, you know. Not everybody has the right lists, or knows a DJ or something.” We have a feeling he won’t be doing too many interviews on behalf of Apple in the future.
UPDATE 12:45PM 23/11/15: Iovine has released a statement of apology, writing, “We created Apple Music to make finding the right music easier for everyone — men and women, young and old.”
“Our new ad focuses on women, which is why I answered the way I did, but of course the same applies equally for men. I could have chosen my words better, and I apologise.”
