After plenty of speculation, Zane Lowe’s new role at Apple has finally been revealed.
Zane Lowe Photo: Supplied
The high-profile New Zealand DJ will be one of the voices of Apple’s global radio station Beats 1, a new service that will offer users “exclusive interviews, guest hosts and the best of what’s going on in the world of music.”
Lowe ended his role at BBC’s Radio 1 station back in March when he announced he would be moving to the US to take up residence in Los Angeles.
While working for Radio 1, Lowe picked up the gold Radio Academy Award for best music broadcaster in 2010, 2011 and 2014 and his show was also named best radio show at the NME Awards on four occasions.
Joining him at Beats 1 will be two other big-name radio personalities, Ebro Darden of Hot 97 who will be based in New York and Rinse FM’s Julie Adenuga who will broadcast from London.
The news is finally out. Honestly, it took a lot for me to leave the UK, but here we ar... http://t.co/VTepkXCbsi pic.twitter.com/K45rEs6VAW
— Zane Lowe (@zanelowe) June 8, 2015
The news coincides with the announcement of Apple Music, the company’s streaming service which will go head-to-head with Spotify and Jay Z’s recently-launched company Tidal.
The service will make its “worldwide debut” on June 30 with users able to pick up a free three-month trial. Following that, a monthly subscription fee of US$9.99 will apply, with a family plan for up to six family members available for US$14.99 per month.
Curation is a big part of what Apple are trying to do, with their radio service offering stations “created by some of the world’s finest radio DJ’s”. Another section, “For You”, will make recommendations based on what you listen to.
In a press conference for the release, Jimmy Iovine, who sold Beats Electronics to Apple for $3 billion last year, said that “Apple Music is really going to move the needle for fans and artists. Online music has become a complicated mess of apps, services and websites. Apple Music brings the best features together for an experience every music lover will appreciate.”
During the keynote, the company also announced their new operating system, OSX El Capitan, as well as an iOS 9 update and Apple Music Connect, a way for artists and fans “to connect with one another directly.”
