St. Vincent, Josh Homme, Disclosure Hosting Beats 1 Radio Shows
Apple Music already poached Zane Lowe to help establish their new internet radio component, Beats 1. The company also signed on Drake and Pharrell as DJs, but even more artists have been added to the company’s roster.
In a profile mostly focused on Lowe, The New York Times also reports that St. Vincent, Josh Homme of Queens Of The Stone Age, the brothers Disclosure, Elton John, and Jaden Smith will all host shows. Beats founding father Dr. Dre will also have his own show called “The Pharmacy.” As the free radio app will be automatically included on Apple’s ubiquitous phones, laptops, and tablets, the program has potential to reach a global audience almost immediately. And with names like these, listeners are likely to tune in — I would listen to St. Vincent host a radio show all day long.
Another interesting tidbit from the profile: Beats 1 was Trent Reznor’s idea. Reznor was inspired by the “monoculture” of Lowe’s BBC show, and wanted to recreate that feeling for Apple. Lowe will also be conducting interviews on air — most of us have listened to him interview Kanye not once but twice, with great success — and Eminem is slated to be Lowe’s first guests.
Everything launches 6/30, which is just five days away at this point. After the coup Taylor Swift pulled off to get artists paid during the three-month trial period for the app, perhaps she too will appear on Apple’s new radio.
