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BEATS 1: THE ART BEHIND DISCOVERY

Beats 1 revealed itself powerfully on its Born Day. Through the lens of its compellingly cool spirit animals—DJs Zane Lowe, Julie Adenuga and Ebro Darden—we experienced three uniquely different vibes, from region to sound, language and presentation.

Each was an expert hand guiding us through a new land, the DJ rocking a crowd while talking up the music they’re playing with unbridled passion and expertise. The coolest part as a new listener yesterday was realizing these were well-formed parties already in progress, but now going worldwide.

Beats 1 is a celebration focused on being a portal for exposure for new, and fiercely committed to a high level of entertainment value around the experience of music.

I’ve only gotten to hear Zane Lowe in pieces—his interviews on YouTube and a few shows when BBC was broadcast on SiriusXM—but his energy overall is just off the chain. I get why people love him so much; enthusiasm like that is instantly contagious. And special. His serious convictions and roll the record back antics leap out of the speakers.

Listening to Zane scream, ‘YAAAAS!” off mic in the background over some blazing new rock song from Manchester with the soaring chorus, “I won’t let go, Won’t let go, tonight of your hand, Who am I? But what does it matter, who am I? But what does it matter?” was like participating in his tribal battle cry, and I’m so with you, dude! Let’s go!

Hearing that was a moment, like the Moon Man landing with the MTV flag on cable TV a generation ago. Suddenly an interesting new way to discover and discuss music was here, on a strange new platform—the app.

Listening to Lowe nervously mumbling “Test…test-test” pre-show over Brian Eno’s Ambient 1: Music for Airports before the first big mic break at 9am was endearingly human. Social media lit up with people worldwide, sharing a “Did you hear that?” moment like it was an earthquake. Others trolled it, and others laughed at the faux pas, But it sure had everyone’s attention—they were all listening.

“Is there an artist out there that more perfectly embodies the freewheeling nature of creativity than Beck? I don’t think so. ‘Dreams!’” Lowe excitedly shouts into the intro of another new song. This guy will lead the movement, pom-poms and all.

And that’s the point. At its most thrilling, music is a tribal, communal experience. It’s been proven time and time again, from Wolfman Jack to Richard Blade to Larry Levan that in the dynamic of radio, you put the right music master in the chair and the audience will follow.

Beats 1 has three ninja masters.

It’s obvious the programming philosophy is show-based, not format-centric, but the reason is simple—it’s a more accurate reflection of the modern music lover. “Our genre is…great!” Lowe proclaimed at one point in his inaugural broadcast. Although block programming is the dominion of places like the BBC and NPR—not quite competitive with commercial radio—those are only the best audio examples. I believe by virtue of the artist partnerships alone that they’ve lined up over the next month, what Apple Music is striving for here is much more along the lines of Netflix and HBO. You get access to all that music content sure, but the original programming is ultimately why you’ll be listening.

“They’re building,” Lowe said of the Spring King’s “City,” the first record he would play, “that’s exactly the kind of story we need to kick this whole thing off with, because man, it’s not about fanfare. That’s fireworks and a hangover the next day. It’s about quality and consistency.”

Music is emotional for the new Beats 1 crew, like it is for all the music heads of the world who find a new song or artist they love— you want to tell your friends about it. Now Apple Music has anointed a global platform for the communal spirit of discovery. Hope it rocks the world.

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