Apple has opened a New York studio for its Beats 1 radio station. The new office is located in Manhattan’s Union Square. It joins other broadcasting studios in London and Los Angeles.
“I want this space to represent the sound and energy of New York, and how multicultural this city is,” said Ebro Darden, who hosts a hip hop music-based radio show on Beats 1. Zane Lowe, one of the first DJs to join Beats 1, described it as a “huge moment” for the station. “We are fully functioning in one of the greatest cities in the world now,” he said.
An article for Fast Company notes that:
“Now that the New York space is open for business, Beats 1 hosts and artists will be able to tape their shows whenever they’re in town, or just get on the mic to broadcast live to over 100 countries globally.”
Apple has been steadily growing its Beats 1 radio station for some time. While it doesn’t reveal listening figures, Larry Jackson, Apple Music’s Head of Content, has previously claimed that, “It’s the biggest radio station in the world. There’s no way you’re going to find another station that has as many concurrent listeners and audience-wise as Beats 1, period.”
Beats 1 is listenable through the Apple Music app. Apple Music is currently lagging only behind Spotify when it comes to subscribers, although you don’t need to be a subscriber to listen to it. As a result, it’s hard to gauge exactly how big it is — although an install base that includes every iOS device and a whole lot of Android devices too certainly opens up a giant potential audience.
Apple has previously indicate that it might be interested in launching additional Beats radio stations, and has having registered websites for Beats 2, 3, 4, and 5 . However, nothing more has been said about this lately. Maybe new studios expand that possibility? Either way, it’s great to see Apple’s radio station put down deeper roots in one of the world’s greatest cities.
