Music Exec Jimmy Iovine Calls Subscription Music “Culturally Inadequate”, Plans Alternative

Jimmy Iovine, the chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, is dissatisfied with the current state of subscription music and has plans to do something about it.  But what concerns Iovine is not the revenue paid to artists and labels, but rather the quality of the experience.

"Right now, subscription music online is culturally inadequate," Iovine told Bloomberg BusinessWeek. "It needs feel. It needs culture What Apple has in the downloading world is very, very good. But subscription has an enormous hole in it, and it's not satisfying right now."

But it's unlikelyy that Iovine is commenting as label executive or that the majors plan to get into the subscription music business anytime soon. Iovine also the founder of audio manufacturer Beats, which smart-phone maker HTC bought 51% of in a $300 million deal last year.

Rumors have been swirling that Beats and HTC are buying music subscription service MOG, which is openly on the market. So far, however, Iovine isn't showing his hand: "I can't show the magic trick. But right now the services are utilities. We only see things in a complete thought."

When we find out what that means, we'll let you know…