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Zane Lowe from Beats 1 on keeping “pace with the [music] culture”

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In a newly released interview with CNET from SXSW 2017, Zane Lowe breaks down some of his beliefs on where music is headed in regards to Apple Music and Beats 1. The interview takes Lowe’s music keynote talk a bit further into understanding how he believes the streaming service integrates into the quickly moving world of music.


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Apple partners with ‘The 1975’ for first live streaming Beats 1 concert

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Since its launch last summer, people have been calling for Apple’s streaming music service Beats 1 to offer up more unique content like live streams of concerts and listening parties. At long last, it appears as if that request is coming to fruition. The Apple Music Snapchat account has recently been promoting a Beats 1-sponsored concert by popular band ‘The 1975,’ whose new album comes out this Friday.


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Do you listen to Beats 1? Here’s what Apple can do to improve its radio station & encourage more people to tune in

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Apple continues to talk high praise of Apple Music, most recently leaking that the service has 10 million paying subscribers, but it has remained somewhat quiet about its Beats 1 online 24/7 radio station. Beats 1 launched to much fanfare with Zane Lowe leading the effort, and while it seems to be doing decently, it isn’t a sensation in the music business yet. It’s especially timely to talk about Beats 1 now that Apple has retired the iTunes Radio ad-supported stations, leaving Beats 1 as the only way to get free streaming music from Apple. I’m intrigued by the uptake of the station — there’s a poll to find out how often you tune in below the break — as it seems Beats 1 has an awareness issue.

I tend to like the music that is played but I just forget to tune in. I think Beats 1 is good but Apple needs to support it better within iOS and iTunes to make it stickier. Here are some suggestions …


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Want to work with Zane Lowe on Beats 1? Apple Music is hiring

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While it appears to be an entry-level position, it will likely be a hot one for anyone looking to get a job in radio: Apple just posted a job listing looking for a production assistant that will work directly with famed radio personality Zane Lowe and the team producing the 24/7 Beats 1 radio station that Apple launched alongside its Apple Music streaming service back in June.

The job listing posted on Apple’s website is seeking a production assistant for Beats 1 to work specifically on Lowe’s show. That includes “creative content ideas, editing, and execution of both audio and video,” and it also means the position will be at Lowe’s Beats 1 studio located in LA. Apple gave a brief tour of the studio back in July

Zane Lowe was hired away from his popular show on BBC Radio 1 to run the live streaming radio offering included with Apple Music. The DJ and radio personality recently gave his take on how things have been going so far noting that Apple told him not to worry about numbers, but simply to “go out and make noise.”

Following that interview, Apple earlier this month revealed for the first time that it has 6.5 million paying Apple Music subscribers and 15 million total users since launching in late June. It didn’t, however, break out any numbers related to Beats 1 specifically.

Zane Lowe on Beats 1: ‘Time will tell’ if Apple Music really needs us

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In a Radio Festival interview in London by Zane Lowe‘s former boss, Lowe told Radio 1 head Ben Cooper that Beats 1 is like a new-born baby.

We’ll grow up, but right now we’re three months old, and babies make a lot of noise, they look at the world all wide-eyed and they shit everywhere. That’s kind of what Beats 1 is, it’s very, very new, 13 weeks man, it’s crazy. It’s all new and weird – and no rules man, no rules.

He said that despite the high-profile nature of the station, he wasn’t taking its future for granted. Asked why Apple Music needs Beats 1, Lowe said he wasn’t sure that it did … 
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Zane Lowe talks Apple Music, Beats 1, Dr. Dre, & more in new interview

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In a new interview with Billboard, Beats 1 head anchor and “special creative” Zane Lowe has shared some new information and backstory regarding Apple’s (almost) always-on radio station and streaming music service. In the interview, Lowe discusses the motives behind playing the music he plays on his show, as well as some of the behind-the-scenes aspects of being in charge of the entirety of Beats 1.


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Apple Music uses Snapchat to give behind-the-scenes look at Beats 1 studio

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Apple has published a behind-the-scenes look at Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 studio where Apple Music’s streaming radio station is broadcasted … on Snapchat of all places. Apple snatched up the ‘applemusic’ username on Snapchat earlier this summer, and now the company is using the account to promote its subscription music service and Zane Lowe’s radio show with short videos of the DJ broadcasting.
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Review: Apple Music offers great discovery & radio features, but has room for improvement

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Apple Music was a service that I was incredibly excited about when Apple announced it last month at WWDC. I’ve written a lot about music here at 9to5Mac and every time I explain how big of a music fan I am. When I’m in my office, I always have music playing, whether it be radio or a specific artist or album. For the past two years, I’ve been using Spotify for all of my streaming music needs. I never had a problem with the service, especially recently as it has upped the quality of both its iOS and Mac apps to be both more stable and feature-rich. A combination that is hard to come by nowadays.

Being the Apple fanboy that I am, however, I obviously had to give Apple Music a try. For the past week, I’ve been using the service as my exclusive source for music. How does it compare to Spotify? Is it enough to make me permanently switch? Read on…


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Zane Lowe’s interview with Ed Sheeran on Beats 1 now available via YouTube

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After launching Beats 1 with an interview featuring Eminem, Zane Lowe followed up yesterday by interviewing singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran. If you missed the live interview, though, it has now been added to the Beats 1 YouTube channel. Unfortunately, it’s audio-only at this point, although Zane did share a video clip on his Instagram so it seems likely that a video version is coming soon.


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Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 interview with Eminem now on YouTube for those who missed it

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Apple was hyping Zane Lowe’s interview with Eminem even before Beats 1 launched, but for anyone who missed it yesterday, it’s been added to the Beats 1 YouTube channel. It’s audio-only, though as both Eminem and Zane Lowe showed video teasers in their Instagram feeds beforehand, it seems likely that the video will be released later.

If you are a fan, Eminem was also interviewed yesterday by Stephen Colbert yesterday for a Public Access Channel in Monroe.

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Apple is letting users request songs on Beats 1, here’s how

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[Update: iMessage requests supported as well.]

Apple Music and its accompanying 24/7 always on radio station Beats 1 launched earlier today with Zane Lowe hosting. Alongside Apple Music, the company launched a refreshed Tumblr blog with Beats 1’s schedule. The company has also launched a webpage inviting users to request content to be played.


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Beats 1 Radio officially goes live on iOS 8.4, Apple publishes schedule on Tumblr

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Apple’s Beats 1 internet radio service has just gone live following the release of the iOS 8.4 software update earlier today. Host Zane Lowe introduced the station, saying, “We spent the last three months trying to build this radio station. Now we can build no more.”

The first song to play on the service was City by Spring King. Lowe said the song had been used for a variety of purposes at the station, including sound checks and demos to get other artists on board with Beats 1.

Beats 1 is part of Apple Music, the new on-demand streaming service first debuted at WWDC last month. Users running the latest iOS software can listen to the free Beats 1 stream, which will feature a variety of shows from hosts like Dr. Dre and Drake.


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Listening to Beats 1 radio should feel like walking into a great independent record store, says Trent Reznor

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Speaking to Rolling Stone about creating Beats 1 radio, Trent Reznor said he wanted to recreate the feeling you got when walking into a really good independent record store.

I want that feeling of walking into an independent record shop, if there are still any that exist, like Amoeba [Records], and being delighted by the choices and the way music is presented to you with love and care. It’s exciting. And you leave with stuff you wouldn’t have dreamed you wanted and you’re excited to listen and share it and experience it.

Reznor, who was previously Chief Creative Officer at Beats Music, said that listening to Zane Lowe’s BBC radio show totally inspired him … 
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More Beats 1 hosts revealed ahead of launch, will include shows from Dr. Dre, Drake, and more

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my name is drake and thank you for your time

Along with today’s announcement that Zane Lowe’s first Beats 1 interview will be with Eminem, a New York Times profile on the DJ revealed the titles and hosts for other shows on Apple’s upcoming music streaming service.

As you might expect, Apple’s own Dr. Dre will be hosting a show of his own called “The Pharmacy.” Rapper Drake, who appeared on stage at the Apple Music announcement, will also have a show on the streaming radio service.


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Beats 1 puts in its first appearance (and sound) for iOS 8.4/9.0 beta users in the run-up to launch

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The Beats 1 radio station that forms part of Apple Music has put in its first appearance for iPhone and iPad users running the beta version of iOS 8.4 and iOS 9. Users are seeing the station logo and hearing pre-roll audio from Zane Lowe when it is clicked.

It’s just a demo at this stage, with pre-recorded audio, but is one step closer to the launch of the streaming music service which launches on June 30 via an all-new Music app … 
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Opinion: Beats 1 is what sets Apple Music apart from the competition

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Apple announced its streaming music service at WWDC this week after months of much anticipation. The service includes many of the features that our own Mark Gurman reported on months in advance. Earlier this year, I broke down my own thoughts on what features the service needed to have in order to convince me to switch from Spotify. Those requested features included excellent support for my previously acquired music; well-designed, cross-platform apps; exclusive content; competitive pricing; and a killer radio functionality.

In response to the requests for a killer radio functionality, Apple announced something called Beats 1. Beats 1 is a 24/7 streaming radio station that will be integrated directly into Apple Music on Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and Apple TV. World renowned DJ Zane Lowe will host Beats 1 from Los Angeles, Ebro Darden, a hip hop DJ, will broadcast from New York, and Julie Adenuga, a grime DJ, will host from London. This team together poses a serious threat to not only competing streaming services like Spotify, Rdio, Tidal, and Google Play Music, but also to traditional radio stations and SiriusXM.

No competitor to Apple Music has anything that even remotely resembles Beats 1.
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Apple reportedly hires additional BBC Radio 1 producers for upcoming streaming music service

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A new report from Music Business Worldwide claims that Apple has recently hired four producers from BBC Radio 1. This report comes two months after it was announced that Zane Lowe was leaving the British radio station to take a new position at Apple. According to today’s report, the recent Apple hires include James Bursey, Natasha Lynch and Kieran Yeates, as well as one other.


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Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’ bonus tracks coming to iTunes

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Taylor Swift announced last night that she is making the bonus tracks from her insanely popular newest album ‘1989’ available on iTunes. This morning, Swift released the first bonus track, “Wonderland” on iTunes, with two more still to come. “You Are In Love” is the next bonus track on the album and was produced by Jack Antonoff of Bleachers and ‘fun.’ fame. The third bonus single still to come is entitled “New Romantics.”


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Apple bolsters revamped Beats Music team with addition of BBC Radio’s Zane Lowe

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The BBC announced today that Zane Lowe, who has worked as an award-winning Radio 1 DJ for nearly twelve years, is stepping down from his position in March and moving to California to take up a role at Apple. Lowe has long been regarded as one of the UK’s top sources for music discovery, and his show helped make many artists the stars they are today.

Lowe hasn’t publicly stated what role he’ll be filling at the Cupertino tech company, but it’s not hard to conclude that he’ll be lending his curation expertise to the big upcoming relaunch of the Beats Music streaming service. Beats Music, of course, is already staffed by music industry icons Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre.


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