The architect of Apple’s online radio strategy has resigned two months after the launch of its Beats1 radio service, said people familiar with the matter.
Ian Rogers was part of the executive team that joined Apple last year when the company acquired Beats, the audio group started by Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine, for $3bn.
News of his departure caught colleagues off guard. He is leaving the west coast to work for a Europe-based company in an unrelated industry, people familiar with the situation said.
Apple confirmed that Mr Rogers was leaving the company but declined to comment further.
The departure of one of Apple’s most senior music executives will also surprise the music industry, which has pinned its hopes on the success of the company’s music streaming strategy.
Apple said this month that 11m people had signed up for free trials of Apple Music in the first four weeks since its launch. More than three-quarters of those people have continued to use the service every week.
This compares with 75m active users of Spotify, the Swedish music streaming group, which operates an advertising-supported and paid-for service. Pandora, the online radio group, has close to 80m active users.
The true popularity of Apple Music will only become clear in late September, when the first adopters of its 90-day trial offering must decide whether to pay $10 a month to keep using the service.
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There's usually turnover at a time like this anyway, but amid the Tidal collapse, this looks particularly messy.
