Filip Brož Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Internet Software and Services at Apple, was always an exemplary employee and played several important roles not only in the field of multimedia content. The Cuban-American, who has three children, has devotedly worked for Apple for more than twenty-six years. During that time, he is responsible for, for example, the creation of iCloud, created the Internet version of the Apple Store, and stood by Steve Jobs during the creation of iPods. The iTunes store is certainly among his greatest successes.
In recent years, however, he has focused on the future of Apple TV and Apple Music. People from the music, film, television and sports industries describe him as a person who does his work with enthusiasm and in his free time tries to improve and penetrate the secrets of the media business. Recently, Cue also provided Hollywood Reporter magazine interview, who discussed with him what role Apple will play in the television and film segment.
New projects
"Someone keeps telling me that even though we have more than 900 channels on TV at home, there's still nothing to watch. I don't agree with that. There are definitely interesting programs out there, but it's very hard to find them," says Cue. According to him, the goal of Apple is not to create new TV series and movies. "On the contrary, we try to look for new and interesting projects that we are happy to lend a helping hand to. We don't want to compete with established streaming services like Netflix,” Cue continues.
Eddy joined Apple in 1989. Besides work, his main hobbies are basketball, rock music and he also likes to collect expensive and rare cars. In the interview, he admits that he learned a lot of things in the field of multimedia and film from Jobs. Cue met Steve when he was managing not only Apple, but also the Pixar studio. Cue is also one of the great diplomats and negotiators, as he signed many important contracts and settled many disputes during the Steve Jobs era.
"It's not true that Apple wants to buy a big recording studio. It's just speculation. I admit that the representatives of the Time Warner studio though several meetings and many discussions took place, but at the moment we are definitely not interested in any purchase," Cue emphasized.
Editor Natalie Jarvey z Hollywood Reporter she also peeked into Cue's study in the Infinite Loop during the interview. The decoration of his office shows that he is a big fan of basketball. Cue grew up in Miami, Florida. He attended Duke University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in economics and computer science in 1986. His office is thus currently decorated with posters of the university's basketball team, including former players. The collection of guitars and the complete vinyl discography of the Beatles are also interesting.
The relationship with Hollywood is improving
The interview also revealed that Apple wants to continue to improve and expand the possibilities of using Apple Music and the potential of Apple TV. In this context, it also plans to enter new areas, which, however, are connected to already established products or devices. "Since the beginning of the iTunes Music Store (now just the iTunes Store), we have been working closely with producers and musicians. From day one, we respect that it's their content and they should decide if they want their music to be free or paid for,” Cue explains in the interview. He also adds that Apple's relationship with Hollywood is gradually improving and there will definitely be room for some new projects in the future.
The journalist also asked Cue how it looks with the announced one by the TV show Vital Signs from a member of the hip-hop group NWA Dr. Dre. Cue supposedly has no news. He only praised mutual cooperation. In this semi-biographical dark drama, the world-famous rapper Dr. Dre, who should appear in six volumes.
Let's just add that according to Wall Street Journal Apple has shown interest in purchase of the music streaming service Tidal. It is owned by rapper Jay-Z and prides itself on providing users with music in lossless quality, the so-called Flac format. Tidal certainly doesn't belong on the sidelines, and with 4,6 million paying users, it's challenging the established services. They also boast exclusive contracts with world-famous singers, led by Rihanna, Beyoncé and Kanye West. If the deal were to go through, Apple would gain not only new features and music options, but also new paying users.
I'm sorry, but I find iTunes in particular to be very user-friendly. Just adding anything from music or video is a real pain.
He's been doing it for 26 years and doing it stupidly. They should put him in the Guinness Book of Records.