‘A Modern MTV’: Apple Music Chief On The Streaming Service, Beats, And More – BGR

During the Powerbeats Fit event, we had the chance to interview Oliver Schusser, Apple’s VP of Music, Beats, and Sports, at the Apple Music Studio in Culver City. Schusser, who was part of the original release of Apple Music, reflected on the first decade of the service, the core integration between Beats and Apple, and the company’s accessory expansion.

The VP says Apple Music is all about sharing songs, playlists, and albums, and that Apple Music Radio is an important part of that strategy. “We’re trying to make everything sociable, but our communication side is more of a fan experience, a modern version of MTV, an artist platform.” When asked about the company’s competitors, which often appear to be much more focused on social features, Schusser told me: “I don’t think our competitors have more social features; they just talk more about them.”

In the past few years, Apple has made strides on the social aspect of the music streaming service by introducing better Apple Music Replay playlists, customized suggestions based on what friends are playing, and more.

Before talking about Beats and the new Powerbeats Fit, I asked Schusser about the recent Apple Music redesign in iOS 26. The new Liquid Glass UI brought more consistency across the company’s platforms. However, the Apple Music app on macOS Tahoe remains surprisingly similar to the old iTunes experience while still not offering all of the features the iOS app offers. For example, the auto-pin feature on the Mac doesn’t have the same shortcuts available on the iPhone, and the Mac still has exclusive features of its own, such as a proper play count for your songs.

“It’s interesting, the Mac actually has features in Apple Music, like building folders in your library, that you can’t do on iPhone. We try to be best-in-class across Apple platforms, including the Mac,” Schusser reveals. “However, the Mac is, in terms of usage, a smaller platform than the others. That’s why sometimes things you see on iPhone or iPad aren’t yet on the Mac.”

Apple acquired Beats in 2014. Despite the acquisition, it still sometimes feels like the two companies are doing their own thing. Schusser, VP of Music, Beats, and Sports, says Beats has always been aligned with Apple. “We’re 100% an Apple company. Our engineers work closely with Apple engineers. Beats focuses on the intersection of fitness and music, targeting a young, diverse audience, vibrant colors, and cultural marketing. This complements Apple hardware like AirPods.”

Schusser also addresses what makes the Powerbeats lineup unique. “We noticed Beats Fit Pro users are very active, so we designed Powerbeats Fit for workouts. We obsessed over the wingtip design to make the perfect headphone for a sporty lifestyle. It was heavily debated internally, but it met our high standards for Powerbeats.”

The executive also explained the origins of Beats’ expansion to cases and cables: “At Beats we have our core products, but we’ve always loved doing collaborations with celebrities and brands. And every time we did those, we were also making custom cables. Over time we got really good at making these beautiful, high-quality cables in great colors, and we thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if we sold them?’ That got us thinking about what more we could do with the brand. Being part of Apple, we believed we could bring something magical. We’re essentially at the end of year one and moving into year two with lots more ideas. Most importantly, customers love it.”