Don't recognize that name? Well, you might not be a huge music fan, but even if you are, it's not as if Iovine is an artist. No, Jimmy Iovine is a behind the scenes guy. He co-founded Interscope Records, and is the chairman of Interscope Geffan A&M. He got into business with Dr. Dre by partnering with the rapper for Beats Electronics - you know, the whole "Beats by Dre" thing? Yeah, Apple bought that this past May - for three billion dollars. On Family Guy, Iovine appeared in the 2005 episode "Don't Make Me Over" in which Meg gets a make-over and winds up as a Brittney/X-Tina type of pop star with all the accompanying jailbait marketing. She starts out, however, in a group with the Griffin family, who sign a record deal with Iovine while playing a show in prison, Johnny Cash style. What's Iovine in for? Killing a cat. The cameo works because (especially at the time, but it's never really changed) of our general disdain for the music industry. Killing a cat? We suspect most music industry bigshots have done far worse, really. Having the family sign their record deal with a shiv on the ass of another prisoner? That's about what we'd expect from an industry that opted to attack its own fans instead of working to find new business models. That Iovine actually went for the bit is impressive. He may be the one person in the industry who isn't completely evil.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
