Anyone involved in the digital side of the music biz probably knows Apple’s Eddy Cue, who until recently was VP of iTunes. No longer. As one of the first executive moves of incoming CEO Tim Cook, Cue has been promoted to senior VP of Internet Software and Services.
9to5Mac first reported the news and has Cook’s internal memo to staff announcing the change. Apple’s website also reflects the move.
The most immediate result of the move is that Cue now adds oversight of Apple’s struggling iAds mobile advertising platform. The platform has not raked in the kind of cash Apple had hoped for, and mobile advertising is a business with both huge potential and competition. Apple’s former president of mobile advertising, Andy Miller, left the company last month.
Until now, Cue has been the main man behind all of Apples media deals. Bascially, anything to do with iTunes, Cue oversaw. Now, he’s overseeing all content AND the monetization of that content, including iTunes, the App Store and the new iCloud service.
How this affects iTunes and Cue’s role is not yet clear. Cue will likely remain the face of iTunes not only internally at Apple, but with the music industry dealmakers. It will be interesting to see how Cue and Cook interact with rights holders going forward as well.