Music-tech attorney Chris Castle said: "My impression was that he was very clearly about Apple's interest, but it was clear he also wanted to be fair. Apple never tried to steal music like many of these other guys. They cared about content. It was never about what they could get away with. With Eddy you felt you had a fair hearing."

Regarding his negations with record labels one music industry exec said: "You have a point in time when everyone was going to draw their weapons, but the extremely shrewd way Eddy handled it took all the fight out of the industry's sword rattlers."

One reason for his negotiating successes may be his " calm demeanor ", note one source. "I really respected [Cue] and his thoughtful, calm demeanor. Unlike a lot of tech people he listened to us when we were doing his deals."

Another executive told Cnet: "Eddy doesn't care about those other guys, the flashy executives who want the spotlight. He's the kind of person who is happy to be in the engine room making sure that everything is clicking along."

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