Jimmy Iovine spearheading talks to lock up exclusive releases for Apple's Beats Music

Though there is no word on which artists Iovine has approached, he remains one of the most powerful people in the music industry and has long-standing relationships with A-listers like Gwen Stefani and Kanye West. The talks were first noted by the New York Post.

Record labels —  long wary of Apple's market dominance with iTunes —  are said to be pushing back on these proposals, especially as the industry comes to grips with the new reality of subscription-based streaming services replacing album sales.

Working in Iovine's favor is the fact that the iTunes release of Beyonce's "visual album" in December 2013 was an unqualified success. It sold more than 800,000 copies in its first three days of availability, vaulting it to the No. 1 position on music charts in over 100 countries.

Apple is thought to be in the midst of rebuilding and rebranding Beats Music, and a series of major exclusive releases could serve to boost its eventual relaunch. The Post believes that the Dr. Dre-backed streaming service currently sits at approximately 300,000 subscribers, a potentially worrying number as the figure stood at 250,000 in May of this year.