Beats 1 launched triumphantly with Apple Music, but in a new interview with Beats DJ Zane Lowe, the radio presenter admits he’s “not sure” whether Beats 1 is a crucial part of the Apple Music package — although he hopes “there’s a place for it.”
Lowe was being interviewed as part of the Radio Festival 2015 in London, slightly awkwardly by his former BBC boss, the controller of Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra, Ben Cooper.
“We’re working [out where Beats 1 fits into Apple Music],” Lowe said. “Time will tell. 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].”
He also discussed his decision to join Apple in February this year.
“The job wasn’t advertised, the job came along at a moment which was very unexpected because I was very happy [at the BBC],” he said. “When I said yes [to the job], I felt like I said ‘no’, and then ‘yes’, and then ‘I’m not sure’. Leaving someone like the BBC is not [a] cut and dried [decision].”
It’s definitely interesting to hear Lowe’s thoughts on Beats 1. Artistically, I’d suggest that the radio station has been a success for Apple in the first three months of Apple Music. It’s understandable that Lowe, like everyone involved with the enterprise, would be a bit on edge at the moment, however — as the three-month free trial comes to an end and Apple sees exactly how many people will willingly pay for its streaming music service.
Given that it presumably took a sizeable salary offer to get Lowe to relocate to Los Angeles to work for Apple, this is presumably when Apple starts to find out whether its investment has paid off.
Not that the company’s short of a couple of bucks to take a risk!
Source: Telegraph
