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Posts tagged with "beats"

Spotify Launches Two New Radio Shows→

Rich McCormick at The Verge:

Swedish streaming service Spotify is launching two new radio shows today, both of which feature musicians talking about the kind of music that they like listening to while they’re making their art. The first, AM/PM, will feature artists like electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre and Terry Hall of ska icons The Specials talking about the music they listen to in the mornings before work, and in the evenings after a day spent creating. The second, Secret Genius, speaks to the songwriters and producers behind major songs, and features the actually-pretty-well-known James Blake, among others.

Looks like Spotify’s “In Residence” radio shows which launched last year were successful enough for Spotify to commission these two new shows. The comparison to the radio shows on Beats 1 is unavoidable, but it’s a good move on Spotify’s part. They may not be for everyone, but those Beats 1 shows are one of the best benefits of the launch of Apple Music. Spotify’s radio shows aren’t live like some of those on Beats 1 are, but I don’t think that makes a great deal of difference to their appeal to listeners.

Speaking of live radio and Beats 1, I’d be very interested to find out how many people listen to Beats 1 live, compared to how many just listen to the recorded radio shows when it is most convenient for them.

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Beats Announces New Beats Pill+ Wireless Speaker→

The first new Beats product under Apple has been announced today, and it’s a new version of the Beats Pill speaker called Beats Pill+.

The Beats Pill+ is slightly larger than the original Beats Pill speaker, allowing for a bigger and fuller sound. The stereo active 2-way crossover system creates an optimized sound field for dynamic range and clarity across all genres of music. Tweeter and woofer separation uses the same acoustic mechanics found in professional recording studios around the world.

The Beats Pill+ can charge devices with USB and Lightning ports, and the refreshed look has an Apple-like feel to it. Sean O’Kane, writing at The Verge, likes its sound:

Whatever it’s doing, it works. I listened to a handful of different tracks from a few different genres: one from The Weeknd and his alt-R&B, some bassy hip-hop from Kendrick Lamar, a standard rock-and-roll track from Tom Petty, and some punk rock from PUP. Everything came through full and clear, and all the music sounded much better than I expected from yet another portable Bluetooth speaker. The bass in Lamar’s “Swimming Pools (Drank)” didn’t muddy up his vocals. I could hear piano parts in Petty’s “Here Comes My Girl” that would be inaudible on most cheap speakers. For lack of a better way to describe it, there was space in between all the sounds coming out of the speaker, whereas most others tend to crush all the different frequencies together.

In addition to the speaker itself, there’s going to be a companion app:

There’s a DJ mode that’ll allow multiple phones/tablets/etc. to pair with the speaker so more than one person can control the playlist. It also helps you add a second Pill+ to either make the overall sound louder or to use ‘em as a stereo setup with left and right channels. If you’ve already opened your wallet to buy Dr. Dre’s latest, you’ll have to wait until next month to drop $230 at an Apple store and other places Beats’ goods are sold.

I’m a happy Bose SoundLink Mini user, but I’m intrigued by the Pill’s look and software features.

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The New York Times Profiles Zane Lowe, Details Artist Shows on Beats 1→

In a profile published today, The New York Times’ Ben Sisario has shared some interesting details ahead of the debut of Beats 1 on Apple Music next week, with a focus on Zane Lowe.

Compared with the mild-mannered corporate executives who usually represent Apple in public, Mr. Lowe is a new kind of animal for the company. A motormouth both on and off the air, he is an irrepressible advocate for the music he chooses to promote. And like that of the legendary BBC announcer John Peel before him, his endorsement carries major weight: Among the artists Mr. Lowe got behind early are Adele, Ed Sheeran and the Arctic Monkeys.

Interestingly, artists and other celebrities will have their own shows on Beats 1, including Dr. Dre and Elton John:

“Zane is a genuine enthusiast; this is not a fake thing,” said Mr. John, whose Beats 1 show, “Elton John’s Rocket Hour,” will be an eclectic mix of old songs and new. “He’s a fan, and he’s a fan who’s got the opportunity to make his position in the world work for other people. He genuinely loves music, and that’s my kind of guy.”

And:

To keep Beats 1 sounding fresh around the world, the station will alternate one- and two-hour programming blocks by established broadcasters with those by musicians and celebrities, who will host and plan the shows themselves. Among the names on board: the teen actor Jaden Smith, the alternative singer St. Vincent, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and the British electronic duo Disclosure.

Between Lowe, Adenuga’s eclectic career, and original shows from a variety of artists, it sure sounds like Apple is willing to experiment with Beats 1.

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Beats Launches New Solo2 Wireless Headphones in iPhone Colors→

Juli Clover, reporting for MacRumors:

Apple-owned headphone company Beats by Dre today announced the launch of several new Solo2 Wireless headphones, in colors that match Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and new MacBook. Available in Gold, Silver, and Space Gray, the headphones are otherwise identical to the company’s existing Solo2 Wireless headphones.

I don’t think it’s surprising that Apple hasn’t rushed to redesign the Beats product line – Beats headphones are clearly popular as they are, and I suspect they would make for a good complementary purchase once the company’s new rumored streaming services launches, presumably later this year.

The timing of the new colors is spot-on – I bet those headphones would look good next to a new gold MacBook or while controlling music from an Apple Watch.

(Note how the Beats link says “Apple Color”, not “iPhone Color”. Silver, Space Gray, and Gold are increasingly becoming the colors of modern Apple devices.)

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Trent Reznor on Beats Music→

Billboard’s Joe Levy posted an interview with Trent Reznor last week, and among various questions he asked about his new role with Beats Music at Apple:

Is it about music delivery?

It’s in that world. It’s exciting to me, and I think it could have a big enough impact that it’s worth the effort. I’m fully in it right now, and it’s challenging, and it’s unfamiliar and it’s kind of everything I asked for – and the bad thing is it’s everything I asked for.

Reznor added that “the right streaming service could solve everybody’s problems”. This isn’t the first time Reznor has expressed his thoughts on how a music streaming platform could go beyond the traditional feature set of streaming services. From an interview with USA Today in January:

“We’re going to offer artists metrics in terms of where their music is being consumed in the service, we’ll allow artists to curate their own pages, and in general provide a friendly place where artists can make fans aware of T-shirts or concert tickets, and consumers can learn more about music and culture,” says Reznor, who in particular is excited about being able to present his true face to fans.

“Not to throw stones at Spotify, because I know those guys, but on their site, I sit behind an impenetrable wall,” he says. “I’ve got an old bio, old photos and a discography with some bootlegs. I feel like I’m walking into a mall record shop and my little area has the wrong picture of me and the catalog stinks.”

It’s unclear if and when Apple will introduce new artist or listener features in Beats Music. According to recent speculation from Re/Code, Apple is looking to cut the $10 monthly fee of Beats Music with an overhaul planned for next year.

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Shazam Rolls Out Beats Music Integration→

As noted by several users yesterday, Shazam has begun rolling out Beats Music integration in their app, allowing users to stream tagged songs off Apple’s service. Similarly, both 9to5Mac and Engadget report that Spotify integration is back in Shazam, as also confirmed by a support document. The feature mirrors Rdio integration for songs recognized in Shazam, launched last month.

With Shazam becoming Apple’s official partner for Siri in iOS 8, it makes sense for the dedicated Shazam app to offer more options to its users – hopefully, this time Shazam won’t decide to pull these integrations.

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Full Video of Jimmy Iovine and Eddy Cue at Code Conference→

A few hours after announcing their $3 billion deal, Apple SVP Eddy Cue and Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine came to the Code Conference to talk about what brought them together, and what they want to do next.

Re/code has posted the full video of the interview with Jimmy Iovine and Eddy Cue, recorded shortly after news of the Beats deal broke. We had a recap of the event, but I highly recommend watching the video as much of the nuance is lost in the transition to plain text.

The video is yet another confirmation of Jimmy Iovine’s vision and, as Marco says, charisma. Iovine knows music and he values music culture, which is reflected in Beats.

See also: this profile of Iovine by Ben Sisario for The New York Times.

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Eddy Cue and Jimmy Iovine Speak at Code Conference, A Brief Recap

Eddy Cue and Jimmy Iovine. Photo via Re/code

Following the news that Apple was acquiring Beats yesterday, Eddy Cue from Apple and Jimmy Iovine from Beats spoke to Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the inaugural Code Conference. We’ve run through the liveblogs from Re/code and The Verge and highlighted some interesting moments of the discussion below. If you’re interested, I’d recommend reading the full liveblogs yourself and keep an eye out for the full video of the interview (which we’ll link to once posted by the Re/code team).

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Beats Music and Curation→

Tim Cook, in an interview with Re/Code’s Peter Kafka about the Beats deal and Beats Music’s curation:

We get a subscription music service that we believe is the first subscription service that really got it right. They had the insight early on to know how important human curation is. That technology by itself wasn’t enough — that it was the marriage of the two that would really be great and produce a feeling in people that we want to produce. They’ve also built an incredible premium headphone business that’s been tuned by experts and critical ears. We’re fans of that. It’s a reasonable-size business that’s fast-growing.

The focus on curation and editorial picks was immediately clear when Beats Music launched in January. The service’s front page featured a collection of curated playlists (handpicked by humans) provided through automatic recommendations based on user taste and listening habits.

From my original article, Why Beats Music Matters:

Computers and algorithms, in spite of modern advancements in data extraction and parsing, don’t understand things like artistic influences, song meanings, subtle references, or the “mood” of a song. Computers can’t compute emotion. They can’t understand what’s behind Dave Grohl’s “Best of You” at Wembley or why Death Cab For Cutie’s Transatlanticism is an album about long distance love. Computers don’t have the human touch, and I believe that they will never be able to fully, empathically replicate the ability to appreciate music as an artistic expression.

That’s why Beats Music hired people knowledgeable about music and uses algorithms as a tool, and not the medium: there’s more to music than data.

If the plan comes together, Beats Music has a serious chance at reinventing how music streaming services should work. I’m optimistic.

And here’s how Beats Music describes their editorial team’s efforts:

At Beats Music, our mission is to create playlists and make music recommendations based on songs that feel right together, at the right time, and for the right person… not just that sound alike.

That can’t be done with an algorithm. It requires a real human with a trained ear for blending genres and styles and a knowledge of what song comes next.

The Beats Music part of the Apple-Beats deal was highlighted in several sections of today’s press statements and interviews, suggesting that Apple (unlike what speculation implied over the past weeks) saw potential in the relatively young Beats Music service. Here’s Tim Cook in an interview with The New York Times:

“Could Eddy’s team have built a subscription service? Of course,” he said. “We could’ve built those 27 other things ourselves, too. You don’t build everything yourself. It’s not one thing that excites us here. It’s the people. It’s the service.”

Unlike subscriber numbers and country availability, music knowledge and culture can’t be quantified, but they’re extremely valuable. With Beats, Apple isn’t simply buying a popular brand of headphones and a music app – they’re investing in fashion sense, the interplay of technology and culture for music, and a team of people with a profound appreciation and understanding of music history and trends. And this drives analysts crazy because it can’t be visualized with a pie chart.

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