Doman: Iovine 1 Jimmy Iovine: Defiant Master George Doman Full Sail
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Doman: Iovine 1 Jimmy Iovine: Defiant Master George Doman Full Sail University, Florida DEFIANT MASTER 2 Abstract Jimmy Iovine is an Italian American and New York native that changed the scope of the music industry. Iovine was fired from his janitorial occupation which ignited John Lennon to allow him to help engineer on one of his projects. Starting his career out as an intern, he was able to progress and become a leader that later led the successful careers of Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre. He is now a superior record producer and co-founder of the well-known Interscope Records. Iovine held an essential position and responsibility in the production of any and all chart-topping albums in the '90s and 2000s. His remarkable way of sharing empathy allowed him to create partnerships with his artists, and those partnerships made way for dominance in the music business industry. Today Iovine, an Apple Music Executive, has also helped create and launch the infamous Beats by Dre headphones which revolutionized the way consumers listen to music. In doing so, it has helped build a bridge between Apple’s tech world and pop culture. This paper will compare Jimmy Iovine to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, touching on their creative task, strategy, breakthrough, and emotional pitfall. Born in Redhook, Brooklyn in 1953, Jimmy's Iovine, the son of a longshoreman, was fortunate enough to face humble beginnings and could not see himself becoming anything successful like a doctor or lawyer. He began his education with attending an all-male Catholic School but despised the strictly enforced dress code. "I was below average, and I wanted to get out of school." (Hughes, 2017). It is this very statement that drives our purpose at a young age to not conform to the conventional mind. Jimmy Iovine's objective was simple, to make his way into the world, not by textbooks or strict school schedules, but by ambition. In comparison to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's musical upbringing, Jimmy began his music journey by joining a rock band. He was eager to become a rock star, but he felt stagnant, DEFIANT MASTER 3 and rebelling against his father's plans sent him into becoming an entrepreneur. His father wanted Jimmy to join him on the docks and become part of the family trade as a longshoreman, but Jimmy was unique. Jimmy and Mozart both had supportive fathers that would influence them on their road to Mastery. (Green, 174) Jimmy once said my father would tell his friends, "My son has magic ears. He can hear what you're thinking." (Esquire, 2014) Creative Task Through a cousin, Jimmy met Ellie Greenwich, a singer who introduced him to his first recording studio internship, where he got fired for not sweeping the studio correctly. Greenwich would later advise Jimmy to try interning at The Record Plant, where he would then meet his mentor, Ray Circala, and become an audio engineering assistant. Ray taught Jimmy how to record and mix with hands-on experience. ("Defiant Ones", 2017) Mozart's apprenticeship helps him develop memory skills because of endless practicing. (Greene, pg 173) Jimmy Iovine would soon develop and master audio engineering skills that would set him apart from the pack. Choosing an apprenticeship is a crucial stage in your life because it allows you to earn experience in your mastery of choice. (Greene, 178) Mozart would stay awake by having his wife sing to him, even during a drunken night. Jimmy would chew silver gum wrapping paper to keep him awake during a struggling recording session. Jimmy would find himself lucky when on November 19th, 1979 he was called in to assist engineer for the legend John Lennon. Fast forward to superstar and friend Bruce Springsteen who would test Iovine's level of patience and Mastery during the recording of 'Born To Run' in 1975. Springsteen, along with his band, first stepped foot in a professional recording studio where Jimmy was interning with basic jobs such as taking the tape on and off. Like Jimmy DEFIANT MASTER 4 Iovine, Mozart grew tired of simple-minded compositions that seemed light-hearted and fun where short, pure orchestra plagued his decade. Mozart's technique to expand the violin sections produced powerful music while his writings felt severe, sad, and ramped with complex emotions. (Greene, 173) The Born To Run sessions were tough for Jimmy to lead as a head engineer, but he was challenged and inspired by Springsteen to go beyond his usual routine of recording techniques. Both Mozart and Iovine shared an obsession during their creative task that caused them to look within. The law of Creative Dynamic meant that both set out for higher goals, which required more considerable energy to achieve. (Greene, 181) Amadeus Mozart was drawn to music at a tender age, and an obsessive mindset led to enough practice to birth greatness. Jimmy let go of his comfort zone by accepting his role as a head engineer during the Born To Run sessions. Greene suggests that to achieve Mastery, one must avoid the comfort zone. (Greene, 58) Both men saw themselves as explorers and ventured out on a musical adventure. Bruce Springsteen was tough to please, for example, one incident had Jimmy working on one drum sound, "It was a three-week-long session working on one sound," Iovine, who is sixty-four, said, his Brooklyn soprano peaking. "One drum sound!" ("Lessons in Bossdom," 2017) Like Mozart, Jimmy's apprenticeship helped him reach his goal of becoming a lead engineer and dealing with meeting client expectations. Jimmy had to see Springsteen's creativity, so he altered the way of the way he thinks during their recording sessions. Mozart felt turmoil, and to end that doubting feeling, he would express powerful music as would Jimmy before fitting into his executive role. Experimentation led to various setbacks and caused Jimmy Iovine to grow tired and re- shift his goal into becoming a future executive. Although Jimmy grew weary of recording with DEFIANT MASTER 5 Springsteen, he knew Born To Run was a masterpiece. Both Mozart and Jimmy shared a creative dynamic, and money was not the reason for committing to their art. "I produced Fog Hat, simply for the money, but it didn't feel right." (Defiant Ones, 2017) After being fired by the band, Fog Hat Jimmy would find himself spending countless hours studying other recording engineers. During this time, Jimmy's first producer credit would be "Because The Night," written by Bruce Springsteen, released by Patti Smith. Jimmy would later become co-founder of Interscope, a record company signing rebellious artist and conquering music charts in the process. Creative Strategy & Breakthrough Participants Mozart's first encounter with Sabastian Bach's sophisticated way of composing did not steer him away from creativity but instead created new inspiration for Mozart. (Greene, 181) During the rise of Napster, Compact Discs were becoming obsolete, and illegal downloading was causing fear in the music industry. Jimmy foresaw the change and felt the need to adjust his direction into partnering up with Apple Music. Young Albert Einstein was intrigued by beams of light compared to teenage Iovine studying the back credits of albums. (Greene, 181) Jimmy's partnership with Apple bridging Beats Headphones, into Beats music streaming proves that Jimmy ignored confirmation bias regarding illegal music sharing. Instead, he embraced music streaming and helped cultivate the way we experience Apple as a streaming service. In comparison, Mozart would achieve a similar breakthrough when he felt like his compositions were too complicated for his father and the archbishop, later moving to Vienna (Greene, 173). Jimmy experienced Serendipity when he began producing artists and directing them to work together. Both Iovine and Mozart set aside their egos to do what was necessary to reach ultimate success. Both individuals widened their search of Serendipity by researching other musicians and techniques in their fields. Serendipity is essential to creative strategy in regards to DEFIANT MASTER 6 achieving mastery level as each individual trained their minds to explore various possibilities and break typical patterns by continually working on their crafts. Emotional Pitfall During the mixing of U2's live album Under The Blood Red Skies Jimmy's Father passed away in 1984, and that to him was his best friend and he was unfocused. Jimmy than created a collaborative Christmas album and continued to produce records, but he felt unfocused on the creative side of music. He began to feel focused but adjacently miserable because he felt stagnant with producing music. U2's album Rattle & Hum was the album that broke Jimmy's love for creating, where they did 200 takes on one song and destroyed the tape. It was at the juncture Jimmy Iovine was accomplished building records and becoming a music business executive. Conclusion I chose Jimmy Iovine due to my music business and audio engineering background. His marketing of beats headphones was genius, he has built a ton of resources and has survived a lot of failed business ventures. David Cohen, a representative of Interscope, claims that Iovine's transition into a business executive was not an instant success. (Leight, 2017) Jimmy could take a song written by someone else and find the perfect artist and a niche for marketing. For instance, he once gave Stevie Nicks a song written by Tom Petty and created a marketing campaign aside from producing the records. "Stop Dragging My Heart Around," sounded more jazzy when Tom would record it, but Stevie Nicks gave the song a pop rendition. "I said if a woman sings an aggressive guy's lyric, it can't miss," said Iovine.