Beats1

This article is about the 24/7 internet music radio station run owned by Apple, Inc.. For algorithm-based internet radio stations on iTunes, see iTunes Radio. For the streaming service that features Beats1, see Apple Music.
Beats 1
City
  • Los Angeles
  • New York City
  • London
Broadcast area Over 100 countries[1] on devices running iOS, tvOS, watchOS, Android, OS X, and Windows
Slogan Worldwide. Always on.
First air date June 30, 2015 (2015-06-30)
Format Freeform radio, Rhythmic contemporary, Urban contemporary
Owner Apple Inc.
Webcast
Website

Beats1 is a 24/7 Music radio station owned and operated by Apple Inc. The station airs a mix of pop, rap and indie music. The marquee DJs include Zane Lowe, who left BBC Radio 1 to join Beats1, Ebro Darden, who hosts a Hip hop show, and Julie Adenuga, whose show focuses on music from Great Britain and the United Kingdom.[2]

History

When Apple bought audio equipment maker Beats Electronics in 2014, Apple gained ownership of Beats' own service Beats Music,[3] and made Beats Music CEO Ian Rogers responsible for the iTunes Radio service.[4] Business Insider later reported that Apple was planning to merge the two services together. Apple also hired noted British radio DJ Zane Lowe to serve as a music curator.[5]

The day of Beats1's launch, The Guardian revealed that they had been given pre-recorded examples of Beats1 programming, and said it "suggests an eclectic mix of programming to fill the 24-hours-a-day of broadcasting."

On September 29 of 2015, Zane Low said he wasn't sure that Apple Music needed Beats1, but said "I hope that there’s a place for it."[6]

In December 2015, rumors spread that Apple Inc. would expand on the Beats1 brand and give it sister stations, after Apple registered trademarks for 4 additional Beat stations.[7][8][9][10]

When Apple refreshed the Apple Music interface in 2016, Beats1 reportedly became harder to get to.[11]

Reception

Reception for the Apple-run station has been mixed. Quartz (publication) analyzed the track list of songs that were aired on Beats1 in its second week. "Though Beats 1 is an eclectic mix of genres, some listeners have complained that it plays too much hip-hop." However, they did note that "there is a reasonable amount of diversity..."[12]

Mashable complained of "dynamic-range compression, which squashes the volume range of audio" and also said "The variety can be a blessing and a curse...it jumps all over the musical spectrum...If I wasn't committed to listening to nothing but Beats 1 for this review, I would have turned it off."[13]

9to5Mac had a generally positive review of the station, saying "Although Beats 1 is advertised as a 24/7 station, it isn’t really true. The schedule is set up on a 12 hour basis, so for the other 12 hours it plays a recording of the last 12 hours...This is frustrating for me, being based in the UK. If I listen in the afternoon and in the following morning, I am likely to hear the same shows repeated...In summary, Beats 1 as a concept is great... It needs some work on the software side and the production side to make it really shine."[14]

Fortune (magazine) said "I haven’t liked every song played on Beats 1, but the personal bond I instantly felt with each DJ has been strong enough for me to resist the urge to go back to a lifeless algorithm."[15]

The Verge had multiple writers listen to Beats1 over the course of 24 hours and write a daily blog on their experience. Emily Yoshida wrote "There's not really a demographic for Beats 1 besides "musical omnivore...It's internet person music." Rose Miller wrote "Darden's show has really felt live. There's impulsiveness and interactivity." Ben Popper had to wait 30 minutes to listen to Beats1 because of an outage. "If I wanted to subscribe to this show and get a push notification when St. Vincent was on the air, could I do that?" He complained. "If so, I can't tell how." Sam Byford wrote "So here we are at 1PM on a rainy Tokyo afternoon, and I'm listening to a radio show that aired 12 hours ago...The whole setup of Beats 1 is very Western hemisphere and Anglophone. Lowe keeps talking about the 100 hundred countries he's broadcasting to, but how many people can even understand what he's saying?" Amar Toor wrote "I appreciate what they're trying to do with 24/7, always-on radio, but part of me wonders whether it would've been more interesting if it was more US-centric...Wonder how much of the 'radio experience' we'll lose with a radio station that has no real clock...I should note that I'm hearing a lot of this music for the first time, which I take as a sign of good DJing. But it still kind of sucks knowing that I'm listening to a repeat...in the words of disappointed clubgoers the world over, I'm just not really feeling it."[16]

Billboard (magazine) writer said "the tech community has been heaping praise on Beats 1...Internet-savvy people have fallen head over heels for old-school monoculture."[17]

Rob Price of Business Insider said "So far, I've loved it. I was never much of a radio listener before, and I've enjoyed the eclectic selection it has thrown up."[18]

Kirk McElhearn wrote "Beats 1 radio is clearly a loss-leader. Apple has designed it to draw people into Apple Music and get them interested. But the station is designed for just one demographic: the young, pop/rock/hip-hop listener. As such, it’s a non starter for a lot of Apple Music customers, and that’s a shame."[19]

Format

Beats1 airs an eclectic mix of music focusing on new music and artists. Unlike the playlists for the "stations" on ITunes Radio, all music aired on the station is curated by humans. The Next Web claims that "The overarching aim of Beats 1 is to curate cool new music, whether it be new talent or fresh music from established artists."[20]

Beats1 airs Apple's annual Apple Music Festival (which was formerly known as the iTunes Festival).[21]

Ebro Darden hosts a 2-hour show on Beats1 in which he plays a mix of both hit and obscure songs and interviews artists in-studio. His show is based out of New York.[22]

Beats1 has been known to interview marquee artists,[23] such as Lady Gaga,[24] Bruno Mars[25] and Chance the Rapper.[26]

Citations

  1. ↑ "Availability of Apple Music, Apple Music Radio, and iTunes Match". apple.com.
  2. ↑ Sisario, Ben (2015-06-25). "Zane Lowe, the D.J. Scratching Out Beats 1 for Apple". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-09-16.
  3. ↑ Karp, Hannah; Dezember, Ryan; Barr, Alistair (2014-05-30). "Apple Paying Less Than $500 Million for Beats Music Streaming Service". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  4. ↑ Wakabayashi, Hannah Karp and Daisuke. "With Apple-Beats Deal Complete, Ian Rogers To Run iTunes Radio". Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  5. ↑ "What we're hearing about the new music-streaming service Apple is developing in secret". Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  6. ↑ "Zane Lowe: 'I'm not sure that Apple Music needs Beats 1'". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
  7. ↑ "Beats 1 to Get Sister Stations, If Trademark Filings Are Any Indication". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
  8. ↑ Rogelet, Sylvain. "Quatre nouvelles radios pour Apple ?". Consomac. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
  9. ↑ Times, Tech (2015-12-31). "Apple Music To Add 4 New Beats Radio Stations, What Genres And Regions Could Their Formats Cover?". Tech Times. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
  10. ↑ Rossignol, Joe. "Apple Files Trademarks for Beats 2, 3, 4, and 5 Radio Stations". Retrieved 2016-10-14.
  11. ↑ Miller, Chance (2016-10-13). "Comment: Beats 1 station deserves an Apple Music-like revamp in year 2". 9to5Mac. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
  12. ↑ Sonnad, Nikhil. "We analyzed a month of Beats 1 tracks to figure out Apple's taste in music". Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  13. ↑ Perkins, Chris. "I listened to Beats 1 for a week and all I got was a headache [REVIEW]". Mashable. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  14. ↑ Mayo, Benjamin (2016-01-19). "Do you listen to Beats 1? Here's what Apple can do to improve its radio station & encourage more people to tune in". 9to5Mac. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  15. ↑ "Why Apple's Beats 1 is music streaming done right". Fortune. 2015-07-02. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  16. ↑ Yoshida, Emily (2015-07-02). "Living through the first 24 hours of Beats 1 radio". The Verge. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  17. ↑ "Beats 1, Apple's Radio Station, Looks Like It's A Hit -- and Maybe a New Digital Direction". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
  18. ↑ "Here's what people are saying about Beats 1, Apple's new global radio station". Business Insider. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
  19. ↑ McElhearn, Kirk (2015-07-27). "We've Got Beats 1 Radio, but What About Beats 2, Beats 3, Etc.?". Kirkville. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
  20. ↑ Swanner, Nate (2015-09-29). "Zane Lowe is crazy if he doesn't think Apple Music needs Beats 1". The Next Web. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
  21. ↑ "Apple's rebranded Music Festival will be livestreamed on Beats 1". Engadget. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
  22. ↑ "Ebro Darden: the DJ who curates the sound of New York on Beats 1". Engadget. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
  23. ↑ "What Apple's Beats 1 Means for Your Radio Brand | Mark Ramsey Media LLC". www.markramseymedia.com. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
  24. ↑ "Don't Compare Lady Gaga To Madonna (Or Anyone Else), Because She Says So". MTV News. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
  25. ↑ Guide, Game & (2016-11-02). "Bruno Mars Failure Lead Him To His Success: Find Out How He Coped With Failure". Gamenguide. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
  26. ↑ "Watch Chance the Rapper's Full Interview with Zane Lowe on Beats 1 - Noisey". Noisey. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
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