Apple has signed a deal with Latin American “cultural outlet” Remezcla to create playlists for Apple Music.
The company, which began as a Latino events guide for New York, specializes in Latin America’s musical “new wave.” It regularly produces content for brands and festivals eager to reach young Latino audiences — something Apple is more than keen to do with its new streaming music service.
Photo: Brenda Islas
“Our mission has always been to solve the problem of discovery,” said Remezcla CEO Andrew Herrera.
Remezcla’s initial playlists are already available on Apple Music. They include a sampler of tracks from Austin’s underground Latino scene, a playlist of reggaeton pioneers, a sneak preview of music from bands playing at Colombia’s Hermoso Ruido Festival, and a selection of female artist picks.
Another playlist is the work of Mexico City-based “digital cumbia” duo Frikstailers. Apple has also revealed that it plans to enter similar promotional agreements with other Latin music partners in the coming months.
Who knows — if plans for a range of international Beats stations come true, maybe Cupertino will have a whole Latin American station before long?
Source: Billboard
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
One response to “Apple Music brings the Latin groove with new partners”
AMEN!!! That right there is the single most important reason why I had stopped using iTunes Radio and didn’t subscribe to Apple Music. They have a monkey playing around with the horrible Latin music selections truly to the point of insult. If there’s a merengue station, then why throw in there Cumbia and salsa? Not freaking cool at all.
When they get to the level of Pandora with merengue music give me a call. Then I’ll sign up for Apple Music….maybe. It’s not like their other genres are that good or accurate anyway.