“Ian Rogers, the music executive at Apple who stunned the industry last week with news of his departure, has revealed his new job: chief digital officer at LVMH, whose brands include Louis Vuitton and Moët & Chandon,” Ben Sisario reports for The New York Times.
“Mr. Rogers, 43, was in charge of the radio portion of Apple’s new streaming service, Apple Music, which includes its online radio station, Beats 1,” Sisario reports. “When asked why he was leaving Apple for a business unrelated to music, Mr. Rogers wrote in an email: ‘I asked my wife the night of the Apple Music announcement: Was that the starting gun or the finish line for me in the digital music race? I decided I’m ready for a new challenge both professionally and personally. I have more to learn and contribute.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote the day Rogers’ move was reported:
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.
The LVMH press release:
LVMH announces the appointment of Ian Rogers as Chief Digital Officer of the LVMH Group, effective October 2015.
Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of LVMH, declared: “I am happy to welcome Ian into our Group to strengthen our digital ecosystem. He will build on the foundations laid by Thomas Romieu, take the Houses to the next level and explore new opportunities for the Group in the digital sphere. Ian will bring his extensive experience in high-end digital ventures and his innovation-driven spirit to develop LVMH leadership in the digital luxury field.”
A graduate in computer science from Indiana University, Ian Rogers started his career in 1993 as webmaster successively for the Beastie Boys and at Nullsoft. In 2001 he founded Mediacode which was later taken over by Yahoo, where he became VP and General Manager, Music. In 2008, he became CEO of Topspin Media. In 2013 he joined Beats Music as CEO. Last year he joined the iTunes team at Apple as Senior Director pursuant to their acquisition of Beats Music. Ian contributed to the recent launch of Apple Music including Beats 1, their digital streaming channel.
Source: LVMH
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Apple’s Beats 1 architect resigns; Ian Roger’s departure surprises colleagues – August 28, 2015