Apple Beats 1 Radio

Background, Industries and the impact of the Internet

1)
Our music listening habits have changed immensely from the 1960s one aspect is the fact that we don't have to primarily rely on the radio for music, as a matter of fact hardly anyone listens to the radio anymore. Additionally, the main devices we use to listen to music are mobile phones which are not only portable but can be consumed at any time rather than live. The quality of audio we have now has also greatly improved and there is a much wider variety of music for different age groups.

2)
Apple Beats 1 Radio launched in 2015 as a free live streaming global radio station deemed to be 'always on'. It is wholly owned by Apple and is believed to work across genres but has a main focal point on rap and indie music.

3)
iTunes acts as a virtual record store and as an efficient digital library for all kinds of media (music, TV shows, movies etc) which allows user to personally own these different media. iTunes itself is pre-installed on all Apple devices but can also be downloaded for free on non-Apple devices not requiring a subscription fee. Apple Music however is about streaming in order to gain access to Apple Music's entire music selection you must first pay a fee which doesn't however mean that you own the music you listen to. Beats 1 Radio is an internet-based worldwide radio station.

4)
Apple was so keen to enter the online music world to compete with Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer (and others) because they wanted to gain more control over the streaming market. As Apple is already a well known company with just as loyal and substantial customers through iTunes and their products Apple Beats 1 Radio was merely a method of keeping Apple customers away from their competitors.

5)
I think that Apple chose the three selected DJs for launch as they each have quite a lot of experience along with large fan bases that are likely to listen to Apple Beats because of them. Additionally, the fact that they are focused on different genres and areas of the world also makes for a unique and diverse launch. Finally, they each have a good reputation with their audiences which can also help to boost/improve the reputation of Apple.

6)
The use of DJs differs from Spotify, Amazon Music and other streaming services as Apple Beats 1 is more focused on the quality of the DJs as audiences can build Personal Relationships with them inn order to become emotionally invested in the Radio.

7)
The content of the Julie Adenuga show differs from Radio 1 as her show is much more casual, informal and unplanned making it seem more natural and similar to the conversations young people would normally have which is the target audience.

8)
Beats 1 Radio gives Apple the power to make or break new artists because Apple already has such a large number of consumers which are likely to listen to Beats 1 Radio. Beats 1 Radio therefore has a big platform that are going to listen to what the DJs with high reputations have to say but as a result of some artists having partnerships with Apple there will be more preference over them. Due to this, the artists that are partnered with Apple are more likely to have their music shared more than artist that aren't and have more things to say in order to promote those artists. I think that this is bad for the music industry because those that aren't partnered with Apple but still have good music won't have an opportunity to get their names out there compared to those who are partnered with Apple.

9)
From reading the BBC feature on the launch on Apple Beats 1 Radio I think that some industry experts thought it would be successful and others thought it would be unsuccessful. I believe that some thought it would e successful as Apple is already such a big company with lots of people that use their products which is likely to bring them into listening to Apple Beats 1 Radio as well. The reason why others thought it would be unsuccessful is because rather than targeting mainstream audiences Apple Beats 1 decided to target niche audiences instead which in turn excludes a large amount of possible consumers.

10)
Beats 1 could potentially become a threat to traditional media industries due to the fact that not only do they have a large number of customers but they also own devices which can be used to access the radio rather than going out to buy records. The fact that Beats 1 has such well known DJs means that listeners will not only listen to the music played but also to build a personal relationship with the DJs which may not be able to be developed by other radio stations causing them to lose listeners. Additionally, the only place that listeners will be buying music from is Apple which could pose as a problem for other online music retailers as people will no longer be buying their music. Beats 1 could also become a threat for radio stations that only play music such as 1Xtra and Kiss as they are all only focused on Music but with a company as big as Apple doing the same thing it wouldn't be surprising for all their listeners to start listening to Beats 1 instead.

Beats 1 may not pose as a threat to traditional media industries as the fact remains that they are only just starting out and although they may be exceptional at creating mobile devices who is to say they can produce a good enough radio station. This is due to the fact that Beats 1 is simply riding off the fame of Apple and if not for Apple no one might have even heard of Beats 1. Although, Apple is a well known company, radio stations that have been around for years are not going to be brought down buy a new radio station even if it is made by the likes of Apple. Apple may have money but they don't have the years of trust in their radio that other radio stations have. Radio stations that aren't focused on music and actually give information on the news will not be threatened by Beats 1 as they have other content besides music that audiences listen to the radio for.

Audience

1)
The target audience for Beats 1 and Julie Adenuga in particular are teenagers and young adults from ages 14-29 of both genders. The location of the audience would be the USA and mainly the UK as that is roughly where the 3 launch DJs were located. Julie Adenuga's audience could consist of people from BAME groups as she is associated with UK rap and grime which is quite commonly linked to these groups. The audience is also likely to be an Explorer as they are always looking for new things and are usually quite young in nature which is perfect for what Beats 1 is offering.


2)
People listen to Beats 1 because it is made by such a big company that is relatively known worldwide and so as a vast majority of people actually own Apple devices it's more convenient for them to listen to Beats 1. Additionally, the fact that some equally well known DJs are also working for Beats 1 is sure to interest a lot of people which will make them listen to Beats 1 especially for the popular artist that are partnered with Apple such as Taylor Swift herself. Another reason why people listen to Beat 1 is because it actually gives out information about emerging artists and new songs created by other artists keeping you updated with what's going on in the Music community. People can also identify with the DJs who aren't too formal which makes them feel distant but rather informal so much so that it feels as though you are having a casual conversation with them yourself allowing you to relate to them. Finally, Beats 1 also provides entertainment with the music being played and also with guest appearances that may be happening which allows audiences to escape into the world of those people rather than themselves. 

3)
The audience can actively interact with the Apple Beats 1 Radio via their Twitter account that allows audiences to make requests for songs. Along with this there is also a Mixtape segment where audiences can submit their own songs which they themselves have created which in turn supports the creativity of the audiences. Also, it is the audience that buys the music you hear rather than it being offered to them to listen to. Finally, it is audiences (prosumers) that can make playlists for other audiences (customers) which makes it more personalised and based on an actual opinion rather than songs that are made by artists partnered with Apple (producers). It could also be argued that the audience is slightly passive due to the fact that they are simply listening to what the DJs are playing as the DJs won't always follow up on requests made by the audience. Additionally, the Twitter account only has 565k so the likeliness of them actually listening to the requests is quite low.

4)
Apple Beats 1 is actually aimed at niche audiences despite the fact that it claims to cover all genres when the main focus for Beats 1 is Hip Hop and Rap. This greatly differs from Radio 1 which is made to suit mainstream audiences and follows up on being able to cover all genres like Apple Beats 1 claims to do. 

5)
Apple Beats 1 would have been popular with young people back in the 1960s as a free radio and could have rivalled Radio 1 but with such quality streaming services being available to young now I don't think that Beats 1 will become popular among anyone really. This is because although it is made by a company as big and well known as Apple the idea of radio itself is something that just isn't popular among young people anymore no matter what stance it takes I believe that radio will always have the same view of being outdated. Not only this but YouTube has also been around for such a longtime and has always been a streaming service that almost everyone uses worldwide compare to Apple who wants to have control of almost every area which isn't going to happen. Streaming services are the future of audio based media and not even a company like Apple can change this no matter how big they are.