The subject of the moment at least in the Apple world, without a doubt, the Apple Music (new service streaming of songs to be released on June 30). An important part of this new Apple music ecosystem is Beats 1, the free online radio, which will be on the air 24/7 and will be managed by Zane Lowe (Los Angeles), Ebro Darden (New York) and Julie Adenuga (London).
THE The New York Times published an interesting profile of Lowe, a New Zealand DJ who worked for 12 years at BBC Radio and left England in order to live this new challenge at Apple. The text has curious details, such as the information that the format of the Beats 1 radio was an idea of Trent Reznor (from Nine Inch Nails, former CCO of Beats Music and now “creative” at Apple) and that he himself Lowe's family only learned that they would move to the United States after the house went on sale in England (showing that, in a way, Apple continues to try to keep it secret in absolutely every way).
The information that most caught our attention, however, was one that has even been circulating through the air as a rumor. Remember the story that some famous artists like Drake, Pharrell Williams and David Guetta would be a kind of guest DJ on the new iTunes Radio? For that to some extent happen, but the artists involved will be more than just "DJs".
Apple has signed contracts with some artists (Jaden Smith, St. Vincent, Josh Homme, the Disclosure duo, Pharrell Williams, Drake, Elton John and Dr. Dre, who is currently an employee of Apple) for them to have their own shows inside. da Beats 1. It works like this: the radio alternates programs of 1-2 hours in duration, some commanded by the three official anchors and others by the contracted artists themselves (they will plan the programs themselves).
The idea behind Beats 1 really is to create something different from automated online radio, based on algorithms that we are used to hearing about. Led by renowned anchors and artists / celebrities, Lowe gave a very interesting explanation of what they want to achieve with Beats 1:
Everyone remains connected to their devices because of the fear of losing. I'm constantly watching what happens on Instagram, on Twitter, wondering what is going on in my friends' lives. What am I missing? I want this for the radio. What is happening now, right now, that I didn't know I wanted to hear?
If you already know what you want to hear, Apple Musics of life is for you to choose the track / album and enjoy everything in the best possible way. But the idea of Beats 1 is precisely surprising, revealing songs that until then were unknown, following interviews with their favorite artists / celebrities, getting to know their taste better in these programs run by them, etc.
If it will work, we will only know in the future. But what a very interesting concept, that.
Please join us at 8am Tuesday morning as we set this ship a sail: Zane Lowe, the D.J. (NYT) http://t.co/ycXatH5pmm
– ian c rogers (@iancr) June 25, 2015
Oh, and according to this tweet by Ian Rogers (former Beats CEO who now works at Apple), the Beats 1 broadcast will start at noon on 6/30 (at the time of Braslia).
(via MacRumors, TechCrunch)
