“The architect of Apple’s online radio strategy has resigned two months after the launch of its Beats1 radio service, according to people familiar with the matter,” Matthew Garrahan reports for The Financial Times.
“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,” Garrahan reports. “Since the completion of the deal Mr Rogers has led the development of Apple’s Beats 1, hiring Zane Lowe, the former BBC radio DJ, as a presenter and crafting an eclectic mix of shows streamed from London, New York and Los Angeles that have been well received by critics and listeners.”
“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,” Garrahan reports. “Apple confirmed that Mr Rogers was leaving the company but declined to comment further.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Beats 1 is, surprisingly to most, one of the best parts of Apple Music. Perhaps getting it up and running, not running it day-to-day, and getting it to a successful, sustainable state was Rogers real goal? If so, mission accomplished.
Why do I feel compelled to agree with MDN these days?
Because that is how I felt upon reading the headlines then the whole article seemed to lead to that conclusion.
Why hung around twiddling your thumbs with the job accomplished when there is a challenge & perhaps better offer ahead?
Never discount how much people want to be close to “home”. When Mr. Ive leaves Apple it will almost certainly have something to do with being closer the UK.
and don’t forget he now probably has between 25 and 150 million dollars……
He had a one year contract. Most executives of bought out companies have to sign a one year contract to stay on at the new company as part of the sale. After that year, you usually see a lot of them leave unless they’ve found a new, compelling reason to stay.
Job well done…. Sorry to see you go, but thanks for Beats 1 – A real gem.
Gem of a turd floating in a pool of crappy ‘music’..time to flush
If you look at his bio he’s very much into startups or running the show. Some people don’t want to be minor execs in a behemoth the size of Apple, and let’s face it Rogers must be worth an absolute packet thanks to the projects he’s previously guided.
Evidently Mr Rogers could not contain the vomitous suckfest that is Beat1. They need to seriously SIDAGTMBTTS..