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Jimmy Iovine joins Live Nation board
By Chris Cooke | Published on Wednesday 3 December 2014
Presumably finding his new job at Apple just not enough to fill the working day, Beats co-founder and former Universal Music exec Jimmy Iovine – who joined the Apple company after its acquisition of Beats earlier this year – has accepted a seat on the board over at good old Live Nation towers.
“But why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why would he do such a thing?”, you might not be wondering. Well, because Live Nation “has put together the right management team and incredible assets to really be effective in the new music economy” of course! I bet you’re kind of embarrassed for even asking now.
And as for why the world’s biggest live music promoter, management powerhouse and ticketing towerblock would want a former major label man and overpriced headphone peddler offering counsel in its board room, well, obviously, “Jimmy is an extraordinarily gifted arbiter of culture who understands brands and creating compelling new products and services”. Just like Live Nation Chairman Gregory B Maffei said yesterday. Before postulating that “he will add an important voice to our board of directors as we look to continue to accelerate Live Nation’s growth plans”.
But what does Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino think about the new addition to his board? Well, “Jimmy is a great addition” apparently, “and will be a tremendous asset for me and the rest of the management team. He has been at the forefront of innovation in the entertainment industry for decades, and as an entrepreneur, he has combined business inventiveness and marketing prowess with a deep understanding of the music fan to develop and deliver some of the most sought after artist-oriented consumer products and experiences”.
It’s true. I mean, you can try denying it if you want, but then you didn’t think of gluing Dr Dre’s name onto the side of some mediocre cans and then whamming a massive mark-up on them did you? And that, ladies and gentlemen, shows a very deep understanding of the mainstream music fan right there. Mainly a full understanding about them being idiots. And the idiot dollar is key when you’ve got all those mega-sized arenas to fill every night. So it’s a dream appointment all round.
