Zane Lowe questions whether Apple Music needs Beats 1

[Rogifan]

I'm going to assume Apple PR didn't approve this. But it reaffirms my feeling that Apple Music was design by committee; just throwing a bunch of marketing features together and calling it a product.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolo...-not-sure-that-Apple-Music-needs-Beats-1.html

DJ Zane Lowe has admitted he’s unsure if Apple Music needs the digital radio station Beats 1 as the enterprise is so new, although he hopes “there’s a place for it”.

Speaking at the Radio Festival 2015 in London, Lowe was in conversation with his former boss, Ben Cooper, controller of Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra.

When asked by Cooper if Apple Music, the Californian tech company’s streaming service, needed its digital radio branch Beats 1, Lowe replied: “I’m not sure it does”.

“We’re working this out, time will tell,” he said. “We’ve been going three months, I don’t have the answers. I hope that there’s a place for it… This is in progress, and over time we’ll find out exactly why [it’s needed].”

 

[thedon1]

I think the answer (and possibly the question) can be interpreted in a number of ways.

I see it as does Apple Music need Beats1 to sell subscriptions. Would people sign up to AM over Spotify due to the radio station? I don't think we have those stats yet considering it's just coming out of the free phase.

In that respect, i think saying it's still unknown is a reasonable answer.

 

[Paradoxally]

Beats 1 is definitely a game changer (yes, Sirius XM has been doing this sort of things for years, but not at the scale and hype of Apple's station).

I think you can listen to B1 without a subscription, though.

 

[LordQ]

Deleted.