Jimmy Iovine says finding music is difficult for some women [u]
Apple Music exec Jimmy Iovine is getting flak for supposedly sexist comments made during a interview on Thursday, where he said a recent ad series was made because finding music is difficult for "some women."
Iovine appeared as a guest on Thursday's taping of "CBS This Morning" to discuss the inspiration behind a series of Apple Music commercials starring recording artist Mary J. Blige and actresses Kerry Washington and Taraji P. Henson. The trio's first collaboration with director Ava DuVernay (Selma, Middle of Nowhere) was well received when it aired during this year's Emmy Awards broadcast.
CBS host Gayle King asked Iovine about the ad's message -- the first spot ended by calling Apple Music an "Instant boyfriend mixtape service" -- and why it targeted the female demographic. He started out by explaining streaming technology before transitioning into his take on the all-female cast.
"So I always knew that women find it very difficult at times, some women, to find music," Iovine said. "And [Apple Music] helps makes it easier with playlists -- but they're curated by real people. They're not made by algorithms alone - they're made by algorithms but with a human touch."
Taken in context with the Q&A session, Iovine's remarks are not overtly sexist, though in retrospect he could have done a better job framing the talking points. He also revealed that original plans called for Oprah to appear in the campaign, though she ultimately declined.
For her part, Blige said "It was a genius idea to have girls -- because that's what we do, when we get together we listen to music, we talk about life, love, marriage. You know, things like that. So it was just beautiful to have Jimmy choose me to be a part of their world and them be a part of mine."
Iovine wasn't finished, however, as King asked him to describe the creative concept that resulted in DuVernay's finished product.
"I just thought of a problem. You know, girls are sitting around talking about boys, or complaining about boys, when they have their heart broken or whatever. And they need music for that, right? So it's hard to find the right music," he said.
Apple took to Twitter today to unveil a second Apple Music commercial starring Blige, Washington and Henson. The ad is another "slice of life" spot that serves as a sequel to the Emmy's spot. Gathered in Blige's kitchen, the three friends decide to listen to some tunes on Apple Music, prompting Washington to create a "recipe making night with the girls" playlist.
Apple Music's June launch was followed by an aggressive marketing campaign that has featured emerging artists, established musicians and Hollywood stars. Apple CEO Tim Cook said in October that current paying subscribers number more than 6.5 million, while another 8.5 million user are trying it out for free.
Update: Iovine apologized for his choice of words in a statement to BuzzFeed saying, "we created Apple Music to make finding the right music easier for everyone -- men and women, young and old. Our new ad focuses on women, which is why I answered the way I did, but of course the same applies equally for men. I could have chosen my words better, and I apologize."
Iovine appeared as a guest on Thursday's taping of "CBS This Morning" to discuss the inspiration behind a series of Apple Music commercials starring recording artist Mary J. Blige and actresses Kerry Washington and Taraji P. Henson. The trio's first collaboration with director Ava DuVernay (Selma, Middle of Nowhere) was well received when it aired during this year's Emmy Awards broadcast.
CBS host Gayle King asked Iovine about the ad's message -- the first spot ended by calling Apple Music an "Instant boyfriend mixtape service" -- and why it targeted the female demographic. He started out by explaining streaming technology before transitioning into his take on the all-female cast.
"So I always knew that women find it very difficult at times, some women, to find music," Iovine said. "And [Apple Music] helps makes it easier with playlists -- but they're curated by real people. They're not made by algorithms alone - they're made by algorithms but with a human touch."
Taken in context with the Q&A session, Iovine's remarks are not overtly sexist, though in retrospect he could have done a better job framing the talking points. He also revealed that original plans called for Oprah to appear in the campaign, though she ultimately declined.
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For her part, Blige said "It was a genius idea to have girls -- because that's what we do, when we get together we listen to music, we talk about life, love, marriage. You know, things like that. So it was just beautiful to have Jimmy choose me to be a part of their world and them be a part of mine."
Iovine wasn't finished, however, as King asked him to describe the creative concept that resulted in DuVernay's finished product.
"I just thought of a problem. You know, girls are sitting around talking about boys, or complaining about boys, when they have their heart broken or whatever. And they need music for that, right? So it's hard to find the right music," he said.
Apple took to Twitter today to unveil a second Apple Music commercial starring Blige, Washington and Henson. The ad is another "slice of life" spot that serves as a sequel to the Emmy's spot. Gathered in Blige's kitchen, the three friends decide to listen to some tunes on Apple Music, prompting Washington to create a "recipe making night with the girls" playlist.
Dinner with @maryjblige, @kerrywashington and @TherealTaraji??
Sounds like a PARTY. 🎉
https://t.co/PTC4Zk9Ul3
https://t.co/dWhwb5Jaef
-- Apple Music (@AppleMusic) Apple Music's June launch was followed by an aggressive marketing campaign that has featured emerging artists, established musicians and Hollywood stars. Apple CEO Tim Cook said in October that current paying subscribers number more than 6.5 million, while another 8.5 million user are trying it out for free.
Update: Iovine apologized for his choice of words in a statement to BuzzFeed saying, "we created Apple Music to make finding the right music easier for everyone -- men and women, young and old. Our new ad focuses on women, which is why I answered the way I did, but of course the same applies equally for men. I could have chosen my words better, and I apologize."
Comments
Western society is rapidly making me sexist.... against women. Any freaking grain of truth is instantly criticized if that truth includes women. Had Jimmy LIED and said "most men don't understand technology" no one would have cared and women would have had their mouths zipped shut. But as soon as someone speaks a tiny truth about women, they jump in protest and shame the person and some manginas join in too without a single defense for the person speaking out.
The funny thing is Jimmy was genuinely concerned and is helping women discover music more easily, but that's a big enough offense to piss off these angry man haters. Maybe he shouldn't have included women at all? Oh wait, excluding women is also sexist.
As long as feminists and sexist women keep harassing men in society I will continue to despise their disgusting cancerous presence in my society. This is no worse than the whole "men can rape without doing anything" garbage.
Some people are just looking for opportunities to take offense -- or pretend to take offense.
This is not newsworthy.
It's a real issue these days, the Perpetually Offended Class. They don't want equality, they want privilege and their "enemies" punished.
Jimmy's comments didn't seem sexist at all; it's generally a nice thing to make a mixtape for someone, that takes effort and also implies care. I mean, AM has its warts but this isn't one of them.
I'm surprised the made-up word "micro-aggression" wasn't used to explain this.
People have lost their jobs and had their careers ruined for less. Remember that scientist who landed a rocket on a comet? He literally said nothing negative about women.
Here's a huge multi paragraph article about the few words Jimmy said already:
http://observer.com/2015/11/dear-jimmy-iovine-women-dont-need-you-to-mansplain-music-to-them/
Expect the angry YouTube videos and rallies to get Jimmy fired soon.
He's too well liked in the industry. He's going to be just fine.
Google just hired the co-founder of VMWare to run all their cloud businesses to seriously challenge Microsoft and Amazon in this space. Meanwhile Apple has goofy Eddy running the show recommending spending $3B on overpriced headphones.
Sexist? This country is retarded. There are differences in what people care about. Whether those differences are nurture or nature is irrelevant.
If they said that some men have a hard time finding music.. I would agree. My dad has a hell of a time messing with gadgets.
The only thing that irritates men is when women try to claim that they are the same... It is simply not true on so many levels. Apple is like the most liberal company you can imagine and has a gay ceo... And they are being acused of sexism?
Do you really need to throw around the c-word?
"Perpetually Offended Class?" I assumed the guys reading this blog were relatively bright and educated. Sorry that there are obnoxious people that over-react in the name of feminism. The commenters before me are all obnoxious over-reactors in the name of anti-feminism. If any of you have daughters, I am sure you want a better world for them. Count the number of secretaries in your companies and the number of women in upper management. This isn't a fluke.
And the idea that women are mystified by tech is ridiculous and outdated. My nine year old niece is teaching herself to code. Many of my female friends are engineers. Me, I am just a salesperson that thinks gadgets are awesome. Maybe you all should date smarter women. Or would you be threatened?
Before the delusional people try to step in and call him sexist, it’s important to take note of the operational differences in the way men and women think (pretending there are not differences is dangerously perverse). If a system is designed around the male way of thinking, of course women would have trouble parsing it. And vice versa. That the concept that men and women are fundamentally different is becoming ever more radical is a terrifying reflection of the degradation of society.
What? The way we parse the confusing world of music streaming? This is such nonsense. We all went to college and managed to learn in the same system...or at least I did.
Of course the perpetually offended can find nearly any comment to be sexist, or racist, or whatever... Don't expect people to always convey information perfectly or to an impossibly perfect standard (as defined by whom?).
Seems clear to me they were marketing to women, which is standard every day stuff, just like marketing to men or teens, or whoever. It's also pretty obvious that what he was talking about are cases where finding certain music categories that appeal to different women has been difficult (for anyone to find) and they're trying to improve that. It has nothing to do with a woman's ability to find stuff.
Except it is...
(I know some people weep salty tears for anyone who says something offensive. Don't worry. Jimmy--and Apple--will survive. Even if--the horror!--sexism gets discussed instead of ignored.)
The App Store has recently received a few branches worth of subcategories, so I’m eager to sit down at some point and finally be able to browse through content rather than be... what to call it, anti-pigeonholed by the sheer volume of apps under “Science” and “Games”, etc.
That said .. I dont think apple music interface is anything to write home about..
Starting with the stupid inefficient bubbles to the crammed interface...
Apple .. Please! up your game on UI and software... You guys have been slipping lately ....
He was describing a "user profile" to explain a marketing campaign aimed at such a person. BFD. People who get upset over stuff like this don't understand the conversation.
Happens every time.
True but like all men who offend the crazy feminists, he was forced to apologize as if he had said something offensive.
Meanwhile expect feminists to refer to him as a "male pig".
PC Principal doesn't want to hear that, Bro!