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Apple Music: Platform? Promoter? Both.

Drake, the most listened-to artist of 2016, saw staggering numbers from radio and streaming, reflected in his exhaustive synergy with Apple Music.Credit...Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times

By all modern metrics, Drake was far and away the most listened-to artist of 2016, a year when music consumers further abandoned CDs and paid downloads, and turned increasingly to streaming services.

The rapper saw staggering numbers from FM radio to Spotify, where songs from his album “Views” were streamed more than three billion times since their April release, but it was Drake’s exhaustive synergy with Apple Music, where “Views” was played another few billion times, that best illustrated the recent paradigm shifts in the music industry — and signaled where things may yet be headed. (According to Nielsen Music, on-demand streaming now accounts for a larger share of total business — 38 percent — than physical sales, digital album sales or track downloads.)

Even 10 years ago, long after the MP3 had changed everything, the pop industry was fairly diffuse: Major labels serviced music to stores and radio while also handling additional marketing. Music videos, paid for by those labels, had their premieres on MTV or, increasingly, on free online platforms; late-night shows and glossy magazines did interviews around long-planned release dates (remember those?); and the lucrative business of touring was largely a separate concern.

Since its debut in the summer of 2015, however, Apple Music has separated itself from Spotify, the industry’s streaming leader, by trying to become a one-stop shop for major artists — part platform and part promoter.

In the case of Drake, the service’s marquee musician so far, that has meant unveiling new songs on his OVO Sound show for Apple’s Beats 1 internet radio station while making his music exclusive to the service for a set window of time. Zane Lowe, the Beats 1 host, was granted Drake’s only interview around his album release. The rapper’s Summer Sixteen tour was sponsored by Apple, as was his promotional mini-movie, “Please Forgive Me,” which remains available only to subscribers. (Unlike Spotify, Apple does not offer free streaming; a monthly subscription is $9.99, though three-month trials are available.)

Then there were Drake’s commercials with Taylor Swift.

“I don’t think anybody could argue against the incredible value of Apple marketing,” said David Bakula, a senior music analyst for Nielsen. “There are artists they latch onto and say, ‘This is something we are going to heavily promote.’ It makes one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world a sort of tastemaker.”

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The Apple Music executives Larry Jackson, left, and Jimmy Iovine, are record label veterans who were behind the delivery of some of pop music’s most notable 2016 moments.Credit...Nabil Elderkin

Drake wasn’t the only one to benefit. Albums this year from Travis Scott, Future and DJ Khaled all debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart as Apple Music exclusives, as did “Blonde” by Frank Ocean, who rattled the industry when he ditched his label to work directly with the streaming service. Chance the Rapper’s Grammy-nominated mixtape, “Coloring Book,” was not sold at all and was available to stream only via Apple for two weeks.

And while it wasn’t just Apple aligning itself closely with top talent this year — Tidal, the smaller music service owned in part by Jay Z, raised its profile with exclusives from Beyoncé, Kanye West and Rihanna — it was relentless in pursuit of such collaborations, even with more obscure artists, such as Jamie xx and Lil Yachty, that nonetheless added to its creative credibility.

This strategy was not driven so much by Silicon Valley thinkers as record label veterans — namely the Apple Music executives Jimmy Iovine, a former producer who was a founder of Interscope and Beats by Dr. Dre, and Larry Jackson, a onetime A&R man who signed acts like Chief Keef and Lana Del Rey.

“We have real understanding of what these artists are trying to accomplish both aesthetically and commercially,” Mr. Iovine said. At Apple, “We’re really getting there in merging these cultures — tech and the arts,” he added. “And we’re trying to prove that we are the best place for an artist to fulfill their vision.”

In interviews this month, Mr. Iovine and Mr. Jackson, the quietly influential pair behind the delivery of some of pop music’s most notable 2016 moments, discussed Apple’s place in the music ecosystem and what the future of streaming may hold. These are edited excerpts from those conversations.

What did you learn in 2016 that you didn’t realize at the beginning of the year?

LARRY JACKSON On an overall philosophical level, it was about finding our footing with regards to how you can deconstruct genre classifications, making these certain odd juxtapositions work that shouldn’t. A year ago, I don’t think anybody would have expected Taylor Swift and Drake to work with each other. What we’re trying to do is create a clubhouse where these artists can come and play together in the same sandbox and take advantage of each other in a mutually beneficial way. It’s been tough to do that at certain other places.

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Frank Ocean, whose “Blonde” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart as an Apple Music exclusive, ditched his label to work directly with the streaming service.

Why have we seen such a huge surge in streaming for hip-hop and R&B artists, and how does that affect who Apple Music chooses to work with?

JACKSON The shift happened before our arrival in the marketplace. It was something that I’d definitely taken note of when I was working as an A&R at Interscope, with artists like Chief Keef, who was doing so well [streaming]. It’s almost blasphemous for me to say it, but rap has almost taken the place of rock ’n’ roll for a young audience. With hip-hop assuming a rock ’n’ roll brashness and attitude, it just made it more of a powerful juggernaut.

From my perspective and from Jimmy’s, we’ve always had a very strong knack for signing and nurturing hip-hop and R&B acts. The thing I find more interesting now is: What’s the new pop? Pop has always been considered to be one thing, if you know what I’m saying. But when I look at the top albums of the year — it’s Drake, Beyoncé, J. Cole, Frank Ocean and the Weeknd — all black artists. How is that not pop? You don’t really hear Frank Ocean or J. Cole on pop radio, but streaming has ushered in what the new pop is.

There was an idea this year, especially after Frank Ocean released “Blonde” independently through Apple, that you were stepping in where traditional labels may have fallen behind.

JIMMY IOVINE It’s an interesting dynamic. We all have to reinvent ourselves now that paid streaming is starting to lock in. There’s going to be a lot of new technology, and everyone’s going to be reforming their roles. We have no interest in being a label. But we do have interest in making our platform the one that’s best to communicate with the audiences.

We do a different thing than labels. They manage hundreds of groups. We don’t, nor could we. We are a platform that works between the artist, the label and the consumer. The day I met Steve Jobs and [the Apple executive] Eddy Cue, I immediately harnessed it for Interscope. I wasn’t threatened by it. The labels need to have people who know how to harness these things and not just say, “Put me on a playlist,” and pray for rain.

Have the labels successfully harnessed your platform this year?

JACKSON Monte Lipman [of Republic Records] has been fantastic. He’s really cracked the Rubik’s Cube of what we’re trying to do. L. A. Reid [of Epic Records] has decoded it perfectly — we’ve had three No. 1 albums this year between Travis Scott, Khaled and Future. I’d look to them as examples. No one is out to embarrass anybody else.

Some see Apple Music as benefiting only the artistic 1 percent. What’s the best use of the platform for those not on the tier of a Drake or Chance?

JACKSON We have well over 20 million paid people on the service and a few more million in trials. A lot of those people have come here because they are fans of those few individuals. But once you have all those people congregating in one place — roughly 60 percent of them are under the age of 35 — inherently, discovery is going to happen. It’s just part of the process, especially with our editorializing and curating.

Were A-list exclusives the most effective way to add subscribers?

IOVINE There’s a lot of reasons we have over 20 million subscribers. One of the things they get is some music early. Fantastic. Do we see spikes when we do exclusives? Yes. Is that the only reason we get subscribers? No.

JACKSON It’s still consistently a very powerful messaging tool, just marketing for the concept of streaming. With all of the biggest artists of the year — namely Beyoncé, Drake, Frank [Ocean] — a big part of their rollout was really driven by streaming. If those artists are releasing music that way, how could it not be a public education as far as what streaming is all about?

Is there a concern that the fragmentation of the streaming market, and especially exclusives, incentivizes people to download music illegally?

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Chance the Rapper’s Grammy-nominated mixtape, “Coloring Book,” was not sold at all and was available to stream only via Apple Music for two weeks.

JACKSON I’m not going to lie, I’ve used the BitTorrent a time or two in my life. We’ve all come across something that we just had to have then and there. But there’s one thing that you know if you’ve ever gotten music that way: It’s incredibly inconvenient. It’s such a drag to navigate, and there’s a certain level of peril involved. The ease and simplicity and design of what we and other services have been able to do has made piracy probably more of an inconvenience and less of an appealing idea than it once was, perhaps 10 years ago.

Do you regret how the Frank Ocean situation played out, given the perception that you were party to a fast one being pulled on Def Jam and Universal Music?

IOVINE We wanted to work with Frank Ocean. We had a deal — we were working with Frank Ocean, and he controlled where his music came out. Why would it be in our interest to be part of a fast one, a slow one or any one? We were getting the record no matter what. Whatever happened with him and Universal is really between him and Universal. It has nothing to do with us. Nothing.

Why would an artist like Drake ever sign a record contract again given what he’s getting from Apple? Or even someone at the beginning of their career, like Chance?

JACKSON Right now, you really are competing for mindshare. There’s a cacophony of information that consumers are assaulted with on a daily basis from so many different angles. How do you cut through? You don’t cut through in a very subtle, laid back way. You have to lean into it to create what you want to create. And it’s very tough to do that with crumbs and peanuts. Everything comes and goes in a 48-hour news cycle, even if you’re lucky, so we’re trying to create moments that have really big long cultural tails. But it’s not one or the other. You can say two is better than one.

What do the labels do best right now that Apple Music can’t?

JACKSON Artist development. Pretty much all the artists that are breaking right now have deals. The record labels play such an incredible role in that. Breaking an artist is much bigger than getting on whatever fancy playlist of the week. Terrestrial radio is still an undeniable, massive powerhouse and they know that terrain better than anyone. And physical [releases] are still a big part of the market, especially in countries like Germany and Japan.

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Mr. Iovine says of Apple Music, “We’re trying to prove that we are the best place for an artist to fulfill their vision.”Credit...Valerie Macon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Was Kanye’s “The Life of Pablo” close to happening with Apple before he ultimately went exclusive with Tidal?

JACKSON [Kanye’s] a good friend of mine. He talks about our relationship on the song “Saint Pablo.” We’ll always work together — not everything has to be business. Jimmy and I went to the studio two times to hear the album and give feedback, not for any reason other than we love him as an artist and we just wanted to help.

IOVINE He was part of Jay’s thing and chose to make a deal with his friend, and I respect that. I kind of felt like it was going to happen before it did. Jay Z and Kanye — that’s a very natural thing for them to work together. Everybody moves on. You try to do the best with what you’ve got and ignore everything else. That’s why horses get blinders in horse racing: You look at the horse next to you, and you lose a step.

Are there albums or artists that you feel like you missed out on?

IOVINE I would have loved to see Adele launch through the streaming service. But it wasn’t in the cards. It just wasn’t in our realm.

Is there any sort of blood feud between Apple, Spotify and Tidal?

IOVINE Not even one speck of it. I see Jay all the time. I want him to do great. There was never one record company. When I produced records, I used to ask Quincy [Jones] to come in and help me. We are competitors, yes. But as far as anything more, absolutely not.

Do you think we’ll eventually see a consolidation of these services, or will we continue to see an expansion?

IOVINE I think you look at history: There’ll be two or three, like there are two or three of everything else.

How important is it for you to have a creative relationship with artists in addition to a business relationship?

JACKSON The thing that has been most disheartening for me to hear or read is that what we do is transactional in a cold, callous way. The process is so much more collaborative than just sitting in some ivory tower and doing some silly banking deal. Taylor brought me the idea of her running on a treadmill and falling down — that was a concept she’d emailed me, and we built upon it, along with [the director Anthony Mandler]. There was no filter, nobody in the middle, and we were able to do great work that way. We did a viral commercial for Travis Scott, with Brian McKnight, that me and my brother directed. Whatever it takes to get the win.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section AR, Page 22 of the New York edition with the headline: Platform? Promoter? Both.. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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