Larry Jackson, Zane Lowe, Bozoma Saint John interview addresses ambitions, goals for Apple...
The trio of Apple Music leads sat down in an interview to discuss the evolution of the service after 18 months, working with Apple, and how the music industry will have to adapt in the next decade.
Speaking to Complex peppered the three with questions, starting with Apple Music's changes, and where it stands today.
"It's really interesting that you would even ask a question like that, because it means that we've achieved what we set out to achieve initially: Make something that's the intersection of all things pop-culture," answered Apple's head of musical content Larry Jackson. "I like to think of it as a place where the best creative thinkers in music can congregate and come up with different ideas."
Bozoma Saint John, as a marketer, approached her answer to the question slightly differently.
"Apple Music is a living, breathing brand," said Saint John. "It's very affirming to be able to take the personalities that already exist and then make that one statement that can move culture."
Lead presenter Zane Lowe reminisced about the launch of the project, and initial skepticism on the part of talent to come on board.
"Some people got it straight away. Elton John, David Furnish, Pharrell Williams were just like, 'Yep,'" recalled Lowe. "Other people needed a lot more finessing. Trying to work out what our personality is, and how to define what Apple Music is going to be, that's been happening in front of people."
"I provide the microphone, and the megaphone. There's a point of discovery about Apple Music that is so key to all of this, right? But if we don't tell people how to get to us, or what is happening, then it's impossible with all of the noise," added Saint John. "I'm like the promoter. I'm out here handing out fliers on the street, like, 'Yo, come to the party.'"
Lowe recalled that Jackson was the first person who called and asked if he wanted to work on Apple Music, and that the combination of technology and music appealed then, and still does.
"With tech, it's mathematics. There are hard margins. What happens when you take something that you love, that makes you feel a certain way, that's made of those hard margins?" asked Lowe. "What does the future feel and sound like? How do you keep the humanity and the feelings and the stories and the conversations in it?"
"We're all still working it out, and even when you don't have the answer, it's still a privilege to be in the conversation," added Lowe. "I would hate to be on the outside of this room right now."
Zane Lowe helmed BBC Radio 1's widely-praised evening show since 2003 before joining Apple Music in 2015. Lowe is known as a musical tastemaker and is credited with jumpstarting the careers of artists like Adele and Gnarls Barkley by featuring them on his show.
Known to friends as "Boz," Saint John became part of the Apple team when the company purchased Beats Music in 2014. Initially a behind-the-scenes operator, Saint John recently came to the fore thanks to a memorable onstage presentation at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2016.
The executive has since become a corporate ambassador of sorts for Apple Music, and found herself in an Apple Music ad alongside Apple's Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue, Jimmy Iovine and James Corden.
Larry Jackson previously served as the President of Artists and Repertoire (A&R) at Arista Records, leading that company's talent scouting and artistic development process. He previously served as the executive Vice President of A&R at RCA Music. He joined Apple in 2015 to work on Apple Music.
Speaking to Complex peppered the three with questions, starting with Apple Music's changes, and where it stands today.
"It's really interesting that you would even ask a question like that, because it means that we've achieved what we set out to achieve initially: Make something that's the intersection of all things pop-culture," answered Apple's head of musical content Larry Jackson. "I like to think of it as a place where the best creative thinkers in music can congregate and come up with different ideas."
"I would hate to be on the outside of this room right now." - Zane Lowe
Bozoma Saint John, as a marketer, approached her answer to the question slightly differently.
"Apple Music is a living, breathing brand," said Saint John. "It's very affirming to be able to take the personalities that already exist and then make that one statement that can move culture."
Lead presenter Zane Lowe reminisced about the launch of the project, and initial skepticism on the part of talent to come on board.
"Some people got it straight away. Elton John, David Furnish, Pharrell Williams were just like, 'Yep,'" recalled Lowe. "Other people needed a lot more finessing. Trying to work out what our personality is, and how to define what Apple Music is going to be, that's been happening in front of people."
Working for Apple
"Apple is a unique company, in that the art and the science sit together very nicely. There's an appreciation for both sides of the brain," said Saint John. "For me, it's a much easier conversation in this particular environment, because you have to appreciate what is a very artistic, emotional, ever-changing platform.""I provide the microphone, and the megaphone. There's a point of discovery about Apple Music that is so key to all of this, right? But if we don't tell people how to get to us, or what is happening, then it's impossible with all of the noise," added Saint John. "I'm like the promoter. I'm out here handing out fliers on the street, like, 'Yo, come to the party.'"
Lowe recalled that Jackson was the first person who called and asked if he wanted to work on Apple Music, and that the combination of technology and music appealed then, and still does.
"With tech, it's mathematics. There are hard margins. What happens when you take something that you love, that makes you feel a certain way, that's made of those hard margins?" asked Lowe. "What does the future feel and sound like? How do you keep the humanity and the feelings and the stories and the conversations in it?"
Apple Music's place in the music industry's evolution
"My five-year vision is that I want every single person on the planet to be engaged on Apple Music," said Saint John. "I truly believe we've created something very, very special. I don't think anyone else can do this.""We're all still working it out, and even when you don't have the answer, it's still a privilege to be in the conversation," added Lowe. "I would hate to be on the outside of this room right now."
Zane Lowe helmed BBC Radio 1's widely-praised evening show since 2003 before joining Apple Music in 2015. Lowe is known as a musical tastemaker and is credited with jumpstarting the careers of artists like Adele and Gnarls Barkley by featuring them on his show.
Known to friends as "Boz," Saint John became part of the Apple team when the company purchased Beats Music in 2014. Initially a behind-the-scenes operator, Saint John recently came to the fore thanks to a memorable onstage presentation at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2016.
The executive has since become a corporate ambassador of sorts for Apple Music, and found herself in an Apple Music ad alongside Apple's Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue, Jimmy Iovine and James Corden.
Larry Jackson previously served as the President of Artists and Repertoire (A&R) at Arista Records, leading that company's talent scouting and artistic development process. He previously served as the executive Vice President of A&R at RCA Music. He joined Apple in 2015 to work on Apple Music.
Comments
There's nothing wrong with following in the footsteps of Netflix as long as you come up with something even much better.
I use Apple Music to listen to music. If they add music related content to it, be it original TV or movie, that's great, but it's not a place I'd go to watch Sci-Fi, Action movies. Apple Music should be what it's named for..Music!
No where did I see them mention Sci-Fi movies and non-music related TV.
If I were king for a day at Apple I would fire Eddie Cue, the Beats crew, the hangers on and shutter Apple Music faster than you can say market failure. That Apple has destroyed the music experience of over a Half Billion people who actually bought their music through iTunes chasing after broke hipsters with rental rap is rarely mentioned and is not appreciated.
i would wager Apple would have a hard time filling a small conference room with paying customers that actually listen to Beats One.
The Beats team is doing an amazing job taking market share and the biggest mindshare at insane profits. You wanna fire them?
I think a lot of the issues people have with Apple Music can be explained by this: Apple Music / Beats 1 are an excellent service, better than the others, but because they try to do so much, they also have more flaws.
The glaring flaw, which would make up for most of the other, minor flaws (and which would be so, so simple to resolve), is lack of sufficient social engagement [you can't create a personalized page, which makes it near-impossible to effectively express yourself to others, which is the root of social engagement (just look at Facebook)]; how Apple still doesn't seem to understand this is beyond me.
It also seems like Apple Music / Beats suffers from a lack of promotion, something that is especially needed when you're battling terrestrial radio, which doesn't require an iPhone/app and and internet connection. Bozoma is an excellent Apple Music ambassador (loved her presentation at WWDC); but I don't think too many tweens and teens are going to be following her twitter feed anytime soon. I'm actually kind of shocked that Apple hasn't started hosting Beats branded concerts.
Those issues aside, Apple Music /Beats 1 are pretty remarkable. However, relying so much on curation is both a blessing and a curse: although Apple Music hits more home runs than the other services, it also strikes out more often. For Apple Music the playlists do flow very well together, and I come across some obscure, yet excellent music that I would not have otherwise found. However, there is a lot of inconsistency and bias still evident (even in the algorithm based radio stations, strangely). And some of the strikeouts are very frustrating to the user, who expects a personalized experience. For instance, Apple Music employees seem to have a strong bias towards pop and hip-hop, which affects the playlist suggestions focused on other genres. Speaking from my own experience, I listen to the EDM genre almost exclusively (a huge genre, believe it or not; Ive is also a fan, as I've read that he plays techno in the design studio). The "for you" playlists, and other playlists, can be really hit or miss. It seems as if there's only one person at Apple Music that is a genuine EDM fan and makes great selections, and then a lot of the time it sounds like the songs are being chosen by people not familiar with the genre due to the generic sounds and non-engaging tracks (in addition to annoying pop and hip-hop bias). It shouldn't be hard to hire people with a more diverse music experience/taste, especially if Apple is going for universal appeal, which it should. While pop and hip-hop are more popular, there should be more pop/hip-hop fans working at Apple Music; just please don't let those people pick music for people that like other genres (I wouldn't pretend to know what good pop, hip-hop, country, or indie music is).
What on earth are you talking about? I don't listen to rap, and my household loves AM -- because there's a ton of music on it. My weekly playlist and suggested lists, as well as related content, has turned me onto countless hours of music. My SO as well. Not sure if you realize it but Beats Radio has many shows by guest artists and DJs, all available on-demand (Deadmau5 does a nice one).
And Beats is the #1 accessory in Apple Stores, it's immensely profitable and popular. Apple is killing the wireless headphone market. Why would they get rid of it!?
I'm not sure why some of you get so bent out of shape over rap and Beats. If I were forced to my own conclusions....
iTunes has somewhere north of 800 million user accounts and Rental Rap has not even 1/10th that, h is that a success or taking amazing market share?
For me, Apple Music is the ultimate "try before you buy". I love catching up on artists I couldn't listen to when I was younger since there was only so much music I could afford. Now I go back and listen to everything I ever wanted to listen to and buy the albums I love.
did you not read the reply before mine? There's more than one genre on there.
my market share comment was about Beats hardware. You wanna fire these guys? Ridiculous.
itunes does a whole lot more than Music so thats not a fairn comparison. You expect those 800 million accounts to jump to Apple Music?