03/07, 1:09pm
Record labels balking at Apple offer, report says
As an initial offer to a record label for a forthcoming streaming service, Apple recently proposed a royalty rate of just 6 cents per 100 songs, sources for the New York Post claim. "Apple wants a rate that is lower than Pandora's," one executive is quoted as saying. Pandora pays labels 12 cents per 100 songs, which itself is below the Copyright Royalty Board's standard 21 cents for digital-only streaming. Spotify pays 35 cents, according to the Post's sources.
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03/06, 1:30am
Iovine's 'Project Daisy' subscription service may dovetail with Apple's plans
Legendary music producer, label head and Beats Audio CEO Jimmy Iovine has allegedly met with Apple CEO Tim Cook and media services chief Eddy Cue in a "wide-ranging" discussion of the music industry and related topics, including Iovine's "Project Daisy" proposed music service that he had previously pitched to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. The meeting has renewed talk of alleged Apple plans for a subscription or premium music service.
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11/27, 2:36pm
Cue said to be bringing in new leadership for Maps group
Apple's senior VP for Internet software and services, Eddy Cue, has fired the executive in charge of iOS 6 Maps, Richard Williamson, according to Bloomberg sources. Although it's unknown if a replacement for Williamson has been lined up, one of the sources claims that Cue is planning to install a new leadership team in the Maps group. Meanwhile, another source says that a team is dedicated to fixing mapping mistakes, for instance upgrading UK satellite imagery or the labeling for US landmarks. The group is allegedly concentrating on the most obvious problems first.
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11/07, 3:42pm
Ferrari's exact interest in Cue remains ambiguous
The head of Internet software and services at Apple, Eddy Cue, has taken a position on Ferrari's board of directors, according to an announcement. "I am delighted that Eddy Cue, one of the main driving forces behind Apple’s range of revolutionary products, has now joined our board," reads a statement from Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo. "His huge experience in the dynamic, innovative world of the Internet will be of great assistance to us."
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08/24, 11:19am
Company could still be having trouble with content deals
Plans for an Apple TV set (or a more advanced set-top) may still be some time in coming, suggests Pacific Crest's Andy Hargreaves. On Wednesday the analyst met with Apple's CFO, Peter Oppenheimer, and its senior VP for Internet software and services, Eddy Cue. Hargreaves pressed the idea of a "more significant move into TV distribution," according to a new memo. In response, Cue repeated a frequent company position that Apple will only enter markets where it thinks it can create good customer experiences and solve major obstacles.
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04/30, 4:15pm
Depositions by Steve Jobs, Eddy Cue at heart of controversy
Apple is fighting a discovery request in a class action lawsuit brought by musicians like Rick James and Rob Zombie against Universal Music, The Hollywood Reporter reports. Specifically the plaintiffs want access to trial exhibits, expert reports, depositions, and other material from a suit by FBT Productions against UMG subsidiary Aftermath, filed over money owed from music by rapper Eminem. During the case, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that FBT was right in saying that a contract between the parties should be read as treating digital music as "licenses" instead of "sales." The dispute is still set to go to trial in the near future.
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01/26, 3:25pm
Apple co-founder may have been too involved
Apple's iAd network may actually be in a position to improve without Steve Jobs as company CEO, according to a Business Insider source described as "familiar with the situation." The person says that Jobs used to make many of the decisions at iAd, and that as he became sicker, it became increasingly difficult for the iAd team to accomplish anything. With Jobs gone, Eddy Cue is said to be free to properly take charge of iAd, and make decisions on issues like pricing and technology that weren't discussed while Jobs was alive.
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11/04, 7:30pm
Apple SEC filing shows huge bonus payouts
Apple on Friday sent filings to the SEC that showed one of the larger bonus payouts to its senior vice presidents in recent memory. iOS head Scott Forstall, Hardware Engineering's Bob Mansfield, CFO Peter Oppenheimer, Worldwide Product Marketing lead Phil Schiller, general legal counsel Bruce Sewell, and operations head Jeff Williams all received share awards of 150,000 shares each. At current market values of about $400 per share, each will have made $60 million if they cashed in the same day.
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09/01, 10:35am
'Promotion' from role in charge of iTunes
Eddy Cue has been promoted to the position of Senior VP of Internet Software and Services at Apple, an email memo from CEO Tim Cook reveals. "Eddy will report to me and will serve on Apple’s executive management team," the message elaborates. Cook notes that Cue has been with Apple 22 years, and most recently was the head of Apple's iTunes efforts; he is currently overseeing the iTunes Store, the App Store and the iBookstore, as well as iAd and iCloud.
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05/05, 11:05am
Company claims software driving product cycles
Apple will likely reveal "major feature/function updates" at this year's WWDC in early June, says Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty. The prediction is based on a meeting with key Apple executives, including CFO Peter Oppenheimer, senior retail VP Ron Johnson and VP of Internet services Eddy Cue. During the gathering the executives explained that Apple "generally views product cycles as software driven," according to Huberty.
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02/28, 11:55am
Hopes products not 'just for the rich'
Apple has "clever things" planned in order to address the prepaid market for iPhones, says COO Tim Cook. The executive joined CFO Peter Oppenheimer and VP of Internet Services Eddy Cue in speaking with Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst with Bernstein Research. While the iPhone is in high demand, a new model can cost at least $600 off-contract. Apple doesn't want its products to be "just for the rich," according to Cook, and is "not ceding any market." He notes that the company has spent "huge energy" in China, said to be a "clasic prepaid market."
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02/02, 12:35pm
Option already available to publishers
Apple will "soon" make another announcement about iTunes subscriptions, according to the company's VP for Internet services, Eddy Cue. In-app subscriptions were introduced today with The Daily, an iPad-only news publication created by News Corp.. While other publishers may already be implementing the option, which companies are involved and what arrangements they might have will only be publicized at a later time.
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08/08, 3:55pm
Eddy Cue for MobileMe
In light of Apple's tragic MobileMe launch, the company's own Eddy Cue – responsible for a great deal of Apple's back-end infrastructure for services like iTunes – steps up to manage the ailing suite. Cue, who is famous within Apple for being as hard on quality as CEO Steve Jobs, is expected to turn the service around, since he shares a common mindset with the perfectionist jobs, and is viewed by others as the perfect person for the job.
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