Apple’s creation of the Beats 1 radio station has been one of the best parts about the company’s new Apple Music streaming service, but it might not be Apple’s only station for much longer.
As part of the deal Apple signed with major labels ahead of launch, Apple Music has the option to expand its lineup of Beats radio stations nearly at will, according to a new report citing sources with knowledge of the situation.
“Apple has licenses for up to five additional stations like Beats 1, without having to renegotiate with the labels,” reports The Verge’s Micah Singleton, who’s had several music industry scoops regarding the newly launched streaming service.
The terms of the deal mean Apple could launch a Beats 2 station in Australia, Asia or anywhere else Apple wants in order to provide more live radio throughout the day. Beats 1 currently broadcasts live only 12 hours per day.
It appears Apple is definitely considering an expansion of Beats radio with new stations, according to some domain names the company has already registered. MacRumors discovered the company already owns beats2.com.cn, beats2.hk, beats3.sg, beats4.com.ru, beats5.com.cn and a few others, pointing to the possible launch of specialized stations for markets in Hong Kong, Singapore, China and Russia.
Despite the service’s rocky start, music labels have been “pretty pleased” with Apple Music so far, and for good reason: It pays a higher per-play rate than Pandora. Music downloads on iTunes haven’t dropped off a cliff since the service launched, although a sharper decline in downloads could loom if Apple successfully converts free users into paid subscribers once the Apple Music trial period ends.
Source: The Verge
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
14 responses to “Apple may launch five additional Beats radio stations”
No one listens to the one they have now…. have you listened to it? It’s terrible and the interviews they have are boring. Doubt that will ever happen.
I listen to Zane Lowe and Adenuga everyday and they are great broadcasts. I guess that’s why there’s options for everyone. I guess it’s spotify for you.
What! Really? I’ve been discovering rare amazing music every day. Especially with Adenuga. They have been playing all types of exclusive new music, daily.
Incorrect Jim. Beats 1 is the best radio station I’ve heard in a long time. I was very skeptical that Apple could bring anything of value to radio, but somehow they did it.
Glad to hear you three are enjoying the station. It’s good to have fans of anything. I am an apple fan and stock holder. I want it to do well.
But I am in the music business and it’s literally no showing up on anything. No spikes in sales on songs featured and no impact at all on the systems that track who and where anyone is listening.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very good internet radio station, but very very few people listen to it because of it not being a particular genre in todays genre specific sales trends. Maybe if they add stations that are genre driven more would listen.
Hmm…. Well the new Dr.Dre Compton Album should be a good start for the spikes in sales. They will be streaming the whole album before it goes on sale.
We are talking about Beats 1. Apple Music and Beats 1 have nothing to do with each other. You don’t have to pay for Apple Music to listen to Beats 1. Anyone can listen to Beats 1, anytime for free, just like any other internet radio station. The spike in sales for Apple Music from this exclusive has nothing to do with Beats 1 and everything to do with the mass media frenzy for an iconic artist’s first release in 16 years.
It was exclusively announced on Beats 1. It will also be exclusively played on Beats 1 today at 6:00pm. Then Dr.Dre will give an exclusive interview to Zane Lowe on Beats 1. Nowhere else. That should give a descent spike in listeners, but we will see. That’s what I was referring to.
No it wasn’t. It’s been announced everywhere apple music was going to have an exclusive on it. It’s been in the trade publications for a long time. As for the Dre interview, Apple will have him talking about it everywhere, not just Beats 1. That is the whole point of it, to gain Apple Music Subscribers to people that aren’t listening to Apple Music or Beats 1. He will be on the talk show circuit for sure and everywhere else. But playing the music on a free station without joining Apple Music is going to get people to listen. For certain it will get all the pirates and cheapskates that don’t want to pay and make music free to get their audio capturing apps on and put it everywhere.
BTW- this “exclusivity” will hopefully open Apples eyes to the piracy problem in our industry. Since you can only listen to it on Apple Music, and (don’t think) can’t even buy it on iTunes, it will make even the person that normally purchases their music legally, get it from a fileshare network because they don’t want to pay for a streaming service for just one album or a couple of songs from it.
It was announced on Beats 1 first. And the Album will be exclusively played on Beats 1 before release. As for piracy, well have to see. From the looks of it. It doesn’t seem to have hert Spotify. Streaming music in its self was born out of piracy, and its been working so far.
Sorry, wrong again. I’m not going to go to the trouble of getting the links, but trade publications have had this announced for months, before Beats 1’s “exclusive announcement”. AND It’s for sale on iTunes. Will be playing everywhere on regular radio if they are trying to sell it, which I am sure they are. No “Exclusivity”. Go see for yourself… “Exclusive” in this case is for streaming. No Spotify or Tidal. And BTW streaming isn’t working, that is why major artist and labels are pulling their music. And again, nothing to do with the original subject, Beats 1.
Hmm… Isn’t it kinda early to say that its not a success, or that it hasn’t had an impact on sales. I guess it may make an impact in the future (no telling). Hell, its only been out for a little over a month, or less than that. But, Zane Lowe literally got the first exclusive interview with Dr. Dre about his new Compton Album on Beats 1. They literally went over the tracks. I would think that’s a pretty big deal. But, hay. I guess we will see over time.
I hope they add more stations with different styles. I really do not like the music on Beats 1. The “For You” section of Apple Music has been fantastic for me. I have found so much music I know and love on there and I’ve found so much music I’ve never heard before yet love anyway. But Beats 1 just plays new music. In my opinion, the golden age of music was the romantic era (aproximately 1825-1900) and music slowly became worse after that (1900-1960 had pretty good music). But that’s just my opinion. I think that is why Apple Music needs more stations. Beats 1 is pleasing to a crowd, but that crowd is not nearly large enough. There is no way it can please the whole world of music listeners with one station. That is why it needs more.
What makes Beats 1 good is staying out of the genre/format trap. Suggestions: Beats 1 (LA, New York, London); Beats 2 (Beijing, Shanghai, Moscow), Beats 3 (Mexico City, Barcelona, Buenos Aires); Beats 4 (Berlin, Stockholm, Paris); Beats 5 (Seoul, Tokyo, Melbourne); Beats 6 (Mumbai, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur)