Jay Z Gunning For Apple And Dr. Dre

Now that Jay Z’s streaming deal is official [click here if you missed that] he’s gunning for Dr. Dre and Apple’s marketshare.

This battle over the streaming music space is giving rise to a new East Coast/West Coast rap feud.

Jay Z is leveraging his relationships with music artists to jump-start his own subscription music service — pulling ahead of rival hip-hop mogul Dr. Dre and music impresario Jimmy Iovine, who are big players in overhauling Apple’s upcoming Beats service.

“There’s only one person with a bigger Rolodex than Jimmy Iovine and that’s Jay Z,” said one source. Jay Z, who also has his own Roc Nation record label, is pitching his streaming service as more artist- friendly than that of Apple, which developed a reputation for playing hardball with the record labels when it came to its iTunes service.

“Jay Z’s whole approach is, they’re created by artists, supported by artists,” said one label executive. “The more players the better.”