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Ian Rogers, second from right, was in charge of Apple’s online radio services, including its Beats 1 station.Credit Ethan Miller/Getty Images

A crucial executive in Apple’s new music streaming service is leaving the company, just two months after Apple introduced the service and began an intense competition with Spotify for dominance of the online music market.

Ian Rogers, who was in charge of Apple’s online radio services, including its Beats 1 station, has resigned from the company, Apple confirmed on Friday. His departure was said to be abrupt and a surprise to fellow employees. Mr. Rogers was said to be moving to Britain to work for a company unrelated to Apple and streaming music, according to two people briefed on his plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. According to one of these people, the new company was a luxury brand.

Mr. Rogers was one of the main forces behind Beats 1, an Internet radio station that features the former BBC radio D.J. Zane Lowe, among other guest announcers like Elton John, Dr. Dre and Pharrell Williams. A longtime figure in the digital music world who has cultivated close contacts with musicians, Mr. Rogers began his career running the Beastie Boys’ website while still in college in the 1990s, and he later worked for Yahoo and the digital marketing company Topspin. He joined Beats in early 2013 as the chief executive of its planned music service, once code-named Daisy. Beats, best known for its headphone line, was purchased by Apple last year for $3 billion.

It was unclear what effect Mr. Rogers’s departure would have on Apple’s new music offerings, which include a monthly streaming subscription plan similar to Spotify. The company’s new music line was introduced in late June, with a three-month trial period for new customers. This month Apple said that 11 million people around the world had tried the new service. But the music business is nervously awaiting the end of the trial period — when customers will have to pay for access — to judge its success.

Spotify offers a paid version as well as a free one supported by advertising. Of its 75 million users around the world, 20 million are signed up for paying subscriptions, while the rest listen free.

Response to Apple’s subscription service has been mixed, although Beats 1 has largely received high praise for its programming.

Mr. Rogers declined to comment on the news of his departure, which was first reported by The Financial Times.

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