All Apple employees aren't listening to its Beats 1 radio station. One member of Apple Music's staff admitted that he switched the station off after listening to just two songs.
Apple just launched its highly anticipated Apple Music Streaming service on June 30. The service is intended to compete with rivals Spotify, Pandora, Tidal and others by offering a comprehensive listening experience complete with a 24/7-curated radio station known as Beats 1. The station is named after Beats, the company Apple acquired last year for $3 billion and that is known best for its popular bass-heavy headphones.
The radio station is heralded by Apple as "a truly global listening experience. It broadcasts 24/7 to over 100 countries from our studios in Los Angeles, New York, and London. No matter where you are or when you tune in, you'll hear the same great programming as every other listener. Enjoy exclusive interviews, guest hosts, and the best of what's going on in the world of music." Celebrities such as Dr. Dre, Pharrell Williams, Drake, Jaden Smith, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, Disclosure and Elton John have all signed on to DJ and host shows on the channel.
The debut of the station was not without its issues on day one, however. As we previously reported, Beats 1 experienced over 30 minutes of downtime on the day it was introduced. In addition, before officially coming on air, listeners heard station head curator and DJ Zane Lowe talking to the sound engineer for over 30 minutes, both apparently oblivious to the fact that the conversation was being broadcast.
Even workers in Apple's own music department haven't been won over by the station just yet. One Apple employee, who acknowledged that the music selection on the station was quite good so far, admitted, however, to switching it off after only two songs — not a very good sample size to judge the music mix.
As far as the new Apple Music streaming service goes, the employee echoed the sentiments of many who have sampled it, deeming it complicated. Many early users and reviews have found the new Apple Music overwhelming and confusing as opposed to being user friendly and intuitive, the usual hallmarks of Apple's user experience since the company's inception.
