Beats 1
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| City |
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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Over 100 countries on devices running iOS, tvOS, watchOS, Android, macOS, and Windows |
| Slogan | Worldwide. Always on. |
| First air date | June 30, 2015 |
| Format | Freeform radio, Rhythmic contemporary, Urban contemporary |
| Owner | Apple Inc. |
| Webcast | |
| Website | applemusic |
Beats 1 (often styled Beats1 or beats1) is a 24/7 music radio station owned and operated by Apple Inc. The station airs a mix of pop, rap and indie music. Its DJs include Zane Lowe, who left BBC Radio 1 to join Beats 1, Ebro Darden, who hosts a hip hop music based radio show, and Julie Adenuga, whose show focuses on music from the United Kingdom.
Apple bought audio equipment maker Beats Electronics in 2014, which included the ownership of Beats' former music service Beats Music, and made Beats Music CEO Ian Rogers responsible for the iTunes Radio service.Business Insider later reported that Apple was planning to merge the two services together. Apple also hired Zane Lowe as a music curator.
The day of Beats 1's launch, The Guardian revealed that they had been given pre-recorded examples of Beats 1 programming, and said it "suggests an eclectic mix of programming to fill the 24-hours-a-day of broadcasting."
On September 29 of 2015, Zane Lowe said he wasn't sure that Apple Music needed Beats 1, but said "I hope that there’s a place for it."
In December 2015, rumors spread that Apple would expand on the Beats 1 brand and give it sister stations, after Apple registered trademarks for 4 additional Beat stations.
When Apple refreshed the Apple Music interface in 2016, Beats 1 reportedly became harder to get to.
Reception for the Apple-run station has been mixed. Quartz analyzed the track list of songs that were aired on Beats 1 in its second week. "Though Beats 1 is an eclectic mix of genres, some listeners have complained that it plays too much hip-hop." However, they did note that "there is a reasonable amount of diversity..."
Mashable complained of "dynamic-range compression, which squashes the volume range of audio" and also said "The variety can be a blessing and a curse...it jumps all over the musical spectrum...If I wasn't committed to listening to nothing but Beats 1 for this review, I would have turned it off."
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