A New York Times profile of Zane Lowe has revealed some of the artists and celebrities that will host programming on the new “Beats 1” station.
Weekend programming will alternate “established broadcasters” with those hosted by the artists in one and two hour blocks. The stars listed are actor Jaden Smith, singers Pharrell Williams, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and St. Vincent, British electronic artists Disclosure, and rappers Drake and original Beats co-founder Dr. Dre. Elton John will host “Elton John’s Rocket Hour” featuring a mix of eclectic oldies and modern classics.
Julie Pilat, who exited as PD of iHeartMedia Alternative 98.7 KYSR and APD/MD of CHR 102.7 KIIS-FM Los Angeles to join Beats in 2013 as Head of Music, Curation, and Artist Development is also playing a major role in the development of the new station.
“Part of the last three months has been desperately trying to come up with a new word that’s not radio,” Mr. Lowe said. “We couldn’t do it.”
When “Beats 1” debuts at 11am Eastern on Tuesday, June 30, among the programming will be a Lowe interview with Eminem and the exclusive debut of Pharrell’s new single.
Not to be a negative Nancy, I’m not sure simply because it is Apple doing this project that it is going to be able to be successful given:
1. Apple is 15+ years late to creating an Internet-only station.
2. Streaming (ex-Pandora, Spotify, podcasts, etc.) is declining for whatever reason.
3. XM and Sirius both tried the “celebrity” DJ route with mixed success.
4. Few people in the United States know or care who Zane Lowe is, let alone accept that he’s a tastemaker in the UK or the U.S.
5. Block programming is a questionable approach.