Ian Rogers, former Beats Music CEO and Apple Music’s Senior Director, has unexpectedly left Apple less than two months following the launch of Apple’s music-streaming service, according to The Financial Times newspaper on Friday.
The executive is credited with crafting Beats 1 Radio, Apple’s free of charge 24/7 Internet radio available in more than a hundred countries, and shaping its playlists. He was also instrumental in hiring away Beats 1 DJ Zane Lowe from his post at BBC Radio 1.
Rogers resigned from Apple to join a Europe-based company “in an unrelated industry.” The wording shouldn’t surprise anyone: Rogers’ contract with Apple surely contains a non-competitive clause barring him from competing with his former employer in the same industry for a certain period of time.
Apple confirmed to the financial newspaper the departure of its key music-streaming executive.
“News of his departure caught colleagues off guard,” reads the article.
As per LinkedIn, Rogers was Senior Director of Apple Music since August 2014 and Beats Music CEO between January 2013 and August 2014. He was among a group of executives that joined Apple following its $3 billion acquisition of Beats.
Before leading Beats Music, Rogers ran Topspin, a music services startup that helps artists interact with their fans.
Source: The Financial Times