The head of Apple Music is taking over the Beats headphone business

Oliver Schusser
Oliver Schusser (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

  • The longtime president of Beats, Luke Wood, is leaving Apple.
  • Apple Vice President Eddy Cue announced the departure to employees on Friday.
  • Oliver Schusser, head of Apple Music, will be taking over in the role.

Apple continues to integrate the Beats brand into its company, and its latest move might be one of its most impactful yet.

In a new report from CNET, longtime president of Beats, Luke Wood, is leaving Apple. Oliver Schusser, who has headed up Apple Music and International Content for the last two years, will add the Beats brand to his list of responsibilities.

In a note to internal employees, Eddy Cue, Apple's Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, says that while "he timing of the announcement isn't ideal", it had been planned for a long time.

"In the last year, Luke Wood told me about his desire to do something new. I appreciated the heads up so that it allowed us to plan for this transition."

Cue also took the time to say that Apple remains "committed to the Beats brand and the importance of maintaining its role firmly in the music portfolio" and also expressed his confidence in Schusser to take on his newly expanded role.

"Since taking on the Apple Music business a little over a year ago, Apple Music has achieved steady growth under Oliver's leadership. He's passionate about music and the Beats brand. He's equally passionate about building a strong, collaborative culture with his team."

Despite the continued consolidation of Beats into Apple, Cue maintains that the company is "committed to the Beats brand and the importance of maintaining its role firmly in the music portfolio." The brand released new versions of its Powerbeats and Powerbeats Pro headphones in the last year, devices that appeal more towards the sports headphones market whereas Apple's own headphones are made more for general use.

Joe Wituschek
Contributor

Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.

TOPICS