One of Apple’s most senior music executives, Ian Rogers, is leaving Apple two months after the company launched its music streaming service and introduced Beats1 radio. Ian Rogers was the architect of Apple’s online radio strategy, reports the Financial Times.
He was part of the executive team that joined Apple after the $3 billion deal last year, and he led the development of Beats1, hiring Zane Lowe, the former BBC radio DJ.
Rogers’ departure was confirmed by Apple, but the company declined to make further comment. Interestingly, his move “caught colleagues off guard”, the Financial Times’ sources say, and will likely surprise the music industry, which has high hopes for the success of Apple Music in an era when digital downloads are falling and customers seem to prefer music streaming to owning it.
Beats1 is an integral part of Apple’s music streaming strategy, as a it is a free online global radio. The latest official data available reveals that 11 million iOS users subscribed to Apple Music in the first four weeks of availability. The service will be available for free until the end of September, when Apple will begin to charge $9.99 for single membership and $14.99 for family membership.
