Apple has taken another step towards original content with a deal with hip hop label Cash Money Records, according to a Bloomberg report. Cash Money Records, which is the home of artists like Drake, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne and Flo Rida, will be at the center of an Apple-funded documentary, according to the report.
Speculations about the deal between Cash Money and Apple first emerged earlier this week, when the label’s co-founder Bryan “Birdman” Williams posted a photo on Instagram that showed him with Apple Music executive Larry Jackson. Some industry blogs initially speculated that the photo was in celebration of a deal that would give Apple an exclusive release window for the label’s music, but Bloomberg reported Wednesday that it was instead part of Apple’s video production efforts.
Apple has been ramping up the creation of original content in the past couple of months. The company is doing a show called “Planet of the Apps” that will star Gwyneth Paltrow alongside iOS app developers, and recently secured the rights for a TV show based on James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke segments.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said earlier this week that his company would increase investments in content if it was advantageous to its business objectives, especially with regards to the prospects of Apple TV. “We do view that the future of TV is apps,” he told the Washington Post. “And if there’s a way we can be a catalyst into that happening faster or better, then that would interest us in content.”
