Apple Music Goes Hollywood: Inside Jimmy Iovine’s Video Plans

Will.i.am was shopping a reality show to TV networks when he met Apple Music guru Jimmy Iovine on the office terrace where Iovine likes to do his biggest deals alfresco. The two go way back; Iovine signed the musician when he was running Interscope Records. The music legend loved will.i.am’s idea, a Shark Tank-style competition for new apps, and before long he’d persuaded him and TV producer Ben Silverman to pitch it to Eddy Cue, who runs Apple Inc.’s services business and is the company’s conduit to Hollywood.

Will.i.am bailed on a meeting with a TV network and headed for Cupertino, Calif., where he met Cue and soon after agreed to make the program for Apple Music, the tech giant’s two-year-old streaming service and an increasingly important part of the Apple universe. With iTunes sales in decline and streaming services such as Spotify on the rise, Apple wants to see if it can turn its music app into a one-stop shop for pop culture—and keep customers tethered to their iPhones.