Apple has taken on board criticisms of the messiness of the Apple Music app, and will reveal a ‘more intuitive’ version at WWDC in June, reports Bloomberg. The revamp reportedly follows a management shake-up in which several execs involved in the music project have left the company.
Bloomberg‘s sources say that Apple has been struggling to unite the download-based iTunes business and streaming music service into a cohesive whole, but that it has now pulled in some support at the highest level to oversee the changes …
Apple is altering the user interface of Apple Music to make it more intuitive to use, according to people familiar with the product who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. Apple also plans to better integrate its streaming and download businesses and expand its online radio service, the people said
Part of the issue with Apple Music has been Jimmy Iovine’s vaguely-defined role.
Following a management shakeup, the service’s new look is being overseen by content head Robert Kondrk and Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor. Design chief Jony Ive’s team also has provided input, along with Iovine and Eddy Cue, the senior vice president in charge of Internet services.
The reboot will also be accompanied by a ‘marketing blitz’ designed to boost subscriber numbers. Services like Apple Music are coming into increasing focus within the company as it works to offset (probably temporary) falls in iPhone sales.
While Iovine holds no official title – he’s just “Jimmy” in Cupertino – he’s tasked with the music product’s success […] While Iovine’s connections make him valuable, they’re also a source of friction inside Apple. There were times when they were in the middle of negotiations with an artist’s managers and labels while, unbeknownst to them, Iovine was carrying out his own separate discussions, according to people familiar with the matter.
Apple was reportedly worried that over-promotion of the streaming service might hurt download sales, but so far this has not occurred, the piece says.
Apple execs are said to be optimistic about the reception the revamped app will have when it is unveiled on around the first anniversary of the service.
Even after the introduction of Apple Music, revenue from album and song purchases from the iTunes Store have remained steady at nearly $3.5 billion, according to two people familiar with finances. That’s almost three times the revenue generated from streaming subscriptions.
