Inside Beats Music's curation approach

CURATE THIS: Gigom peeks behind the curtain at the upcoming high-profile offering from Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre in the recently posted piece” Here’s how Beats Music is curating its subscription service.” In the story, we learn that at the core of the yet-to-be-launched service will be playlists created by both well-known musicians and music writers, the latter on an assignment basis. Freelancers are given access to a special Web authoring system that allows them to listen to songs and compile them in specific playlists based on requests from Beats Music editors. Playlists can be based on the work of an artist, a genre, a year or even an activity, like BBQing or working out. The compilers are told to build these playlists for certain types of listeners, but also keep other factors in mind such as moods and activities done while listening. And the average playlist is meant to be less than 70 minutes long, or just enough to be finished during a long commute. Sounds very much like the instructions iTunes has long been giving to its own army of playlist compilers. (8/21a)