“”I started this curation conversation six years ago, and everyone thought I was talking about The Force, like it was an ancient religion,” says Jimmy Iovine, 62, a legendary producer, Interscope and Beats co-founder and latterly, since Beats Electronics’ $3.2 billion (£2 billion) Apple buyout in 2014, a creative force behind Apple Music, the company’s new streaming service,” Michael Rundle reports for Wired UK. “‘But now that’s all people talk about. Of course [music] needs curation. Curation was supposedly not hip — that’s bullshit. Curation is a big thing to us, and no one is going to be able to catch us or do it better,’ [Iovine says].”
“Apple has had curation tools before; the Shuffle button, the Genius algorithm and the iTunes Store itself were all efforts in helping users navigate content, with varying degrees of randomness and intelligence. But now, with Apple Music, curation is pretty much Apple’s entire music product,” Rundle reports. “In Apple Music [Beats Music’s] DNA of curation was combined with Cupertino’s design expertise, its vast number of iTunes and iPhone customers, and the company’s deep knowledge of their music preferences, to create a service with greater nuance that you might expect.”
“The result is a growing sense that Apple Music is more than the sum of its parts,” Rundle reports. “Beats 1 is by some distance the most traditional element of Apple Music — let’s face it, it’s a radio station, no more or less — but surprisingly it already feels like a hit. No listener figures have been released to date, but creatively the radio station is (subjectively) flying, propelled by the sheer charisma of Zane Lowe and its other presenters. On one recent afternoon, Lowe opened his 5PM BST show with one-hit-wonder Len’s ‘Steal My Sunshine’, then transitioned to ‘Supersonic’ by Oasis, via Lou Reed’s ‘Walk on the Wild Side’, which merged seamlessly into A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘Can I Kick It?’. It was intense, but in the moment pretty much perfect radio. ‘I love it when a plan comes together,’ Lowe shouted at one point, in between sounds of pre-recorded explosions.”
Tons more in the full interview here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple Music is getting better and better with use, as it learns what we like – and Zane Lowe was a genius hire.
I could do it better… less rap/hip-hop!
I don’t think I could do it better than Zane, I always seem to miss his show.
Every time I do tune in though, I can’t listen for eight minutes without hearing some modern rap/hip-hop unless it’s a specific genera show. I even like some rap/hip-hop, but I find much produced in the last several years to be tripe. Give me some more Tech N9ne, 2-Pac, or Dr. Dre, but you all can have Fetty Wap.
Why would anyone need someone else to pick their music for them? Sheep. Clueless sheep. And this writer is on Cupertino’s payroll.
A man of no humility.
uh, ok.
After a month or so, I’m very impressed. The “For You” playlists it creates are perfect for my tastes. I don’t know if they you telepathy or magic, but they seem to have nailed my tastes.
I had to laugh while reading the comment “Apple Music is more than just the sum of it’s parts”.
Even if it was just the sum of it’s parts it should be amazing.
Time to trim down Apple.
Apple should hire more music taste-makers/music editors from an Internet blogosphere, like Anthony Fantano – “The Internet’s Busiest Music Nerd” – or at least their music/album recommendations/curated playlists.
Wow. “Latterly” is actually a word and used properly in the article.
Who says web surfing isn’t educational…? 😀
Come on Jimmy – it’s “No one ELSE is going…”
Beats was a stupid buy from Apple, it shows that Tim Cook and Eddy Cue have no clue about what they want to do with Apple. Jimmy Lovine is dead weight along with the other guy, they made their sack of gold now kick them out, they keep blabbing and have no clue about what they are talking.