Beats Electronics’ Jimmy Iovine supporting Muscle Shoals upgrades, education programs

Music mogul and Beats Electronic executive Jimmy Iovine is supporting upgrades to Muscle Shoals, Alabama’s historic recording studios and will also back educational programs to train the next generation of music techs.

Iovine and Beats president Luke Wood were inspired by a new documentary on the studio, simply titled Muscle Shoals. The two will help fund refurbishing efforts at Muscle Shoals’ FAME Recording Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. In addition, they will also help set up programs to train those interested in becoming music engineers, producers and musicians. They are working in collaboration with the Muscle Shoals Soul Foundation.

“We want to look back at another Muscle Shoals revival based on what was learned in these studios in the next five to 10 years,” Wood told The Associated Press.

Countless iconic albums by artists from The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan to Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett recorded in Muscle Shoals, so it is important for the industry’s history to keep the studios there running. The town in northern Alabama is experiencing a revival thanks to new interest in recording there. For example, The Black Keys recorded 2009’s Brothers there, the first album made there in 30 years.

“It's not as much about the building. It's the aesthetic and the culture we're trying to maintain," Iovine told the AP. "It's been passed down. That's why it's so good to have these places around the world because it's a tribal thing, there's a culture being passed down."

Beats is best known for its headphones, which were developed with Dr. Dre. The company has recently moved on to other ventures, including its own streaming service. Wood told the Next Web in October that the service should finally launch in the next few months.