Why do Apple want Zane Lowe?
And what does that mean for radio?
So Radio 1’s Zane Lowe is off to Apple. It hasn’t been officially announced what he’s off to do at Apple. Making the iPhone battery would be a good project to work on. Maybe making iTunes less confusing.
It’s more likely he’s going to work on iTunes Radio or what that becomes once they mix it up with Beats Music and launch it on the public.
Many people are taking this as a sign that iTunes Radio is going to have presenter-led content on it. It might well do but with Apple being Apple it’s more likely their aim is higher than that. It feels like they want to take over one of radio’s few remaining unique features…
Radio is where people go to discover new music.
Just about everything that radio once did best is now done better by new technology.
Local information? I’ve got apps that do that, and do it when I want it, not when the radio decides to give it to me.
Play my favourite music? Spotify or my iPhone do that and they do it without hearing songs I don’t much like in between.
Sports commentaries? Most sport is on TV these days. Long gone are the days when sticking a radio to my ear at 3pm on a Saturday was the only way to find out what was happening.
Speech content? Radio still does this exceptionally well. But technology means I can listen to the best documentaries at a time that’s good for me on iPlayer or through podcasts.
Conversational content? Again podcasts are coming up strong on this one. The Football Ramble has just had two albums near the top of the iTunes albums charts (that’s paid for albums, not free to download podcasts). It’s getting easier to go online and find conversational content that reflects your interests.
The big card radio still holds is the place to discover new music. Surveys in the United States and the UK show that listening to broadcast radio is the most popular way to find new songs to listen to. Radio is still streets ahead of YouTube, music TV, streaming services and social media in helping people discover music that they haven’t heard before.
And this is where Apple might think they can see a game changer. With tastemakers like Zane Lowe on board they can curate interesting new music. Can you imagine iTunes radio, with a Zane-type figure at the helm hosting exclusive first plays of tracks?
Apple has serious money to throw at this. They could easily do a series of new music playlists picked by professionals not algorithms. Add to that genuinely exciting first-play events. Throw in an expanded iTunes Festival programme. It would give them a chance to become the key place to go to for new music discovery.
Apple then completes the circle. People hear new music on iTune Radio, buy it through iTunes, listen to it on their iPhone and watch it on their iPad. Now when they get bored of it instead on listening to the radio for inspiration they’re off again to iTunes Radio.
I reckon that’s why they want Zane Lowe.
Where would that leave radio? I don’t want to the the doom-monger. Radio just has to focus on those things it still does (or can do) brilliantly well.
Radio is omnipresent — it’s available almost everywhere you go. Once I’m out of wifi range Spotify and YouTube become less useful.
Most radio is live — the old terrestrial TV networks are creating more and more live event programming which YouTube, Netflix etc can’t copy. Radio should be thinking the same.
Finally radio still has the ability to entertain — this is forgotten in some places but radio has to play up its human qualities. You aren’t going beat the Spotify and iTunes playlists without something that can put a smile on your face in-between the songs.
Got a comment? It’s @euanmcmorrow on Twitter
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