In its bid to become a power in music streaming, Apple Inc is devoting its vast resources to create what it hopes will be a first truly global radio station.
The US$750 billion company, whose iTunes revolutionized how disparate parts of the world buy music, tomorrow launches Apple Music as it sees consumer trends shift to streaming, which allows on-demand unlimited content online.
At the heart of the strategy is Beats 1, which bills itself as a first global radio station and will be available in more than 100 countries.
Beats 1 will be free even without a subscription to Apple Music, whose streaming platform costs US$9.99 a month after a trial period — a key distinction from streaming leader Spotify, which offers a free tier for on-demand music despite criticism from some artists.
Apple Music has sought to make a splash through big names on Beats 1, poaching the influential New Zealand-born DJ Zane Lowe from BBC Radio 1.
The company has not named a full list of presenters, but Lowe in a profile by the New York Times said that pop icon Elton John, Happy singer and producer Pharrell Williams, rap mogul Dr Dre and prominent indie rocker St Vincent had all been enlisted to host shows.
Williams will debut a song for the launch of Apple Music, which enjoyed a dramatic boost when superstar Taylor Swift said she would stream her blockbuster album 1989 only on Apple Music.
Swift made the announcement days after threatening to boycott Apple Music for not paying royalties for streams during the free trial period, quickly leading the company to reverse itself.
Even if Apple is a major power in music, music is a small part of the company’s bottom line.
The iTunes store and other services made up less than 9 percent of Apple’s revenue in the quarter through March 28.
To many analysts, the concerted — and without doubt pricey — push into streaming and radio is aimed less at dominating the music industry than at promoting Apple’s key earner: iPhones.
Beats 1 “reinforces the cultural relevance of Apple as a fashion brand. Music is central to pop culture, and music is all about musicians and artists,” said Mark Ramsey, a media strategist and author of two books on the radio industry.
He said that Beats 1 will offer Apple Music a public face — an asset sorely lacking for Spotify, whose most identifiable figure is Daniel Ek, its young Swedish boss whose style is more investor than rock star.
However, Ramsey also said that Apple Music could ultimately benefit Spotify and other rivals, especially those with free tiers, by introducing streaming to the uninitiated.
“If Apple Music boosts the market for streaming radio, it’s going to float all the boats,” he said.
“Here it is, a major technology provider with a very loud, strong global voice essentially putting its stamp of approval on this category,” he said.
Beats 1 marks a revival of the human element in streaming radio, although it also allows listeners to generate stations through algorithms based on their preferences.
Days before Beats 1 goes live, rival Google Play announced its own online radio station with a human dimension.
It uses the model of Songza, the service bought last year by the search engine giant through which real people help select listeners’ playlists.
However, Google Play will only be available in the US. Likewise Pandora, the Internet radio leader which creates stations based on algorithms, is officially available only in two countries outside the US — Australia and New Zealand — owing to the maze of regulations on radio around the world.
While Beats 1 aims to be global, it will broadcast from just three cities — Los Angeles, New York and London, leaving the vast majority of the world uncovered.
Technological innovations have already given a global reach to prominent radio stations including Britain’s BBC Radio 1 and Amazing Radio, New York’s WQHT and Los Angeles’ KCRW, but globally, adult listeners still tune in to traditional AM/FM broadcasts 86 percent of the time, according to 2012 Nielsen figures.
Cortney Harding, a consultant to music start-ups and a former editor at industry journal Billboard, said not to underestimate the appeal of traditional radio with its mix of local news, weather and event listings.
“People still respond to that. So I think [Beats 1] is going to do well, I think it’s going to be interesting; I don’t know that it’s going to be that massive,” she said.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
RSS