Apple Looking to Sign Drake, Pharrell and David Guetta as iTunes Radio Guest DJs

[Pilgrim1099]

I must say none of these music rumors are interesting to me. I think there's so many other things Apple should be spending their money on. To me music is so last decade and it blows my mind that Apple of all companies is so far behind in this space. Is there anything Apple could announce that would blow people away at this point? Is someone going to leave Spotify or Google Play Music because Apple's paying Pharrell big bucks to be a DJ on iTunes Radio? I doubt it.

I have doubts about this as well. My problem with Apple's approach to hiring these three artists as DJs seem to be a professional conflict of interest. Now, I've heard of these guys but don't listen to their music. Using them to curate music is problematic in the sense that they might curry favor to those already in the industry than those who are underground/independent. I'm also aware that NIN's frontman Trent Reznor is on contract at Apple working on iTunes but, to me, he's a professional musician. I've admired his early NIN work back in the day and haven't caught up to some of his latest stuff.

Fun fact is he lived in Shaker Heights, Ohio in Cleveland where I grew up. So he gets points for that. My concern is that being in a creative position to redesign iTunes as a streaming service might not justify what Apple is trying to pull off here. In other words, I'm unsure if he truly has a background in UI design in order to revamp it. Why didn't Apple approach someone else with actual professional credentials to do it?

So, what do we have here? They have literally FIVE artists in the company: Dr. Dre, Trent Reznor, Pharrell, Drake, and Guetta ranging from iTunes to iTunes Radio. Just because Apple has the money doesn't mean they should be using big name artists to make iTunes look good. And I think this might bite them in the a$$ eventually. Having 'big name' artists curate other music could be a conflict of interest.

Remember that Pharrell had in front of Apple's campus not too long ago where Cook danced like a goof? What was that concert for? I'd like to know because it wasn't well publicized on national news. I know Jobs has passed on but if he were alive, he wouldn't have allowed it and strictly put that concert during the Apple keynote, like he did in the past with U2 ( if memory serves me right ).

After all, they have to be paid by the company to be involved in the project and I'm sure they don't come cheap. What exactly of a deal did the iTunes "DJs" get in return for working at Apple? Something to think about because this reeks of Jimmy Iovine's hand in this.

 

[Dranix]

Maybe if you did a small bit of homework rather than showing your ignorance you would at least know that Pharrell received an academy award nomination for his song Happy that was in the movie Despicable Me 2. Pharrell has been in the music business as an artist for over 20 years. Sheesh, the people here.

Ah that bad song is from him? Another reason not to want him in any important position.

 

[Pilgrim1099]

Exactly. Apple has more than enough cash to just buy a label and offer all the music it wants without negotiating for this or that.

That being said, not in the slightest bit interested in this.

Will never happen. Ever. They do that and the Federal government will be knocking on their doors. Cook is already in big trouble for the underhanded maneuver with Youtube against Spotify. He has been fingered and named by music industry executives. He can't afford to do another d--k move.

 

[HenryDJP]

Ah that bad song is from him? Another reason not to want him in any important position.

That's actually a great song. It's something upbeat and positive and was obviously good enough to be put into a great movie and get an oscar nomination. Maybe your tastes in music aren't that great?

 

[Pilgrim1099]

What a ridiculous comment. I mean really indicative of some serious ignorance. Bethoven may be important to those who like classical, though the entire genre may be useless to those who like metal. Metal may be unlistenable to those who like pop. Pop may be horrible to those who like emo, and emo may be an embarrassment to hip hop.

Perhaps you should open your pallet to a wider range instead of patting yourself on the back for listening to abnoxious renditions of maniacs musical scibes. Ever hear of Voxtrot, Pelical, Russian Circles or stanton moore? Educate yourself and come back so we can had an educated discussion on the merits of music.

Anyone who says rap is animal music is ignorant. I may not listen to it much as I used to back in the day but I respect it as a genre. Even hip hop or electronic music. I grew up in Cleveland and know how they roll with rap music. It never bothered me for one bit.

People who look down on various music genres and tout only just classical or other forms as the 'only' way is an ignorant zealot. I think iTunes is going to have a hard time catching up because they have too many egos brewing inside. If they want to fix iTunes big time, they need to show Eddy Cue, Iovine and Beats out the door, replacing them with professionals with credibility.

 

[Death2Atron]

I really hope they nail the music discovery portion of the service. My favorite "past time" was spending hours in iTunes, listening to whatever it had recommended based on my tastes. I also remember there being playlists other users had build and finding music on there as well.

 

[Pilgrim1099]

Lol, they actually had it up there that "This Monkey's Gone to Heaven" by the Pixies was about an obscure manga, centered around a demon monkey god. Ok... 1st off, no. 2nd, that lame manga in question came out almost a decade AFTER the song. It stayed like that for like six months... EVERY comment after the initial "accepted" one was "no... this dude is wrong. plz take down the silly photo of a demon monkey & erase this so-called "explanation" of the lyrics". Month after month, comment after comment, it stayed.
I'd rather have the original unimproved version of Apple Maps forever with no updates than have Genius in ANY way tied into my iOS devices/content whatsoever.

You're not thinking of the Katsuya Terada manga of The Monkey King published by Dark Horse Comics? The other is by Ozamu Tezuka " My Son Goku " that was an anime called " Alakazam the Great ".

 

[Benjamin Frost]

What kind of music do you like?

Good music.

 

[teslo]

What kind of music do you like?

like asking someone you've never met or seen 'which actress is the prettiest' ... probably 50 different answers for every 100 you ask. no reasons or patterns. just don't get into an argument over it

Good music.

of course. and you like 'hot' women. and you watch 'great' movies. and your taste is impeccable. how interesting of you.

 

[Benjamin Frost]

like asking someone you've never met or seen 'which actress is the prettiest' ... probably 50 different answers for every 100 you ask. no reasons or patterns. just don't get into an argument over it

of course. and you like 'hot' women. and you watch 'great' movies. and your taste is impeccable. how interesting of you.

Thank you for your kind words.

My taste is probably not as perfect as you suggest, but I try.

 

[diamond.g]

like asking someone you've never met or seen 'which actress is the prettiest' ... probably 50 different answers for every 100 you ask. no reasons or patterns. just don't get into an argument over it

of course. and you like 'hot' women. and you watch 'great' movies. and your taste is impeccable. how interesting of you.

I was just asking so we had an idea of what genre's of music they liked. Of course saying good music is kind of a cop-out.

I tend to listen to anything, though I am not a fan of country.

 

[PortableLover]

Sorry but what exactly do they mean about guest DJs?

 

[Thunderhawks]

Showing my age. Who needs DJs?
These guys will not even be in the studio to be live DJs, probably pre-recorded stuff.
There isn't ANY DJ anyplace who would get me to listen to a station due to their celebrity status.
Either a station/streaming service has the type of music I like (can be selected by a program director)
or it's a no listen station.
With all they choices we have to listen to music, commercial free streaming is best or we can all be our own DJs
creating playlists.

 

[johngordon]

I couldn't disagree more.

There is good music and bad music. Whether one likes it or not is another matter.

So how do you tell which music is good, and which good music is bad?

Is it good if you like it, and bad if you don't for example?

 

[johngordon]

Who the f*** are these 3 guys? DJs are no artists - they just put on music. This job is totally superfluous today. And please leave me alone with all the hiphop and rap junk.

I'm in my 40s, but even I know that DJs these days, and in this sense, are absolutely not people who "just put on music".

 

[scwinsett]

This is a bummer. Drake is a joke. I've heard a couple of his songs about how hard his life has been. Dude was a child actor on DeGrassi in Canada. He thinks that was the hard life.

 

[Benjamin Frost]

So how do you tell which music is good, and which good music is bad?

Is it good if you like it, and bad if you don't for example?

That's not for me to say.

 

[tdmac]

Drake and Pharrell are huge in the Music business. Drake is one of the biggest artists these days and huge following. He also has a new album that is supposed to drop this spring. With this news I am now curious if it will coincide with WWDC. Pharrell, like CeeLo Green, is primarily a sonwritter and producer. He has written tons of hits. They both have their own labels as well. David Guetta is not what I would call electronica but is more of a dance music DJ. But he also has his own label, which is focused strictly on electronica music releases.

 

[Fzang]

I'm in my 40s, but even I know that DJs these days, and in this sense, are absolutely not people who "just put on music".

DJs back in the days were useful, because they were the ones bringing all the expensive gear and lots of vinyls to the parties. They had all the music. They had all the equipment. They had the skills. They had purpose.

Today everyone has Spotify which can not only tell you what to listen to but also mix it all for you. True, there are some good DJs out there, and the equipment has really really come far. But don't come and tell me you need a 10k Pioneer setup to mix two songs digitally. The world is saturated with DJs as is.

Here's an adequate description of the current world situation

 

[furi0usbee]

Drake.. the music aficionado... right.

 

[furi0usbee]

Nice update to the forums. It would be nice if MR used retina images in their articles. I've only had my rMBP since 2012 you know...

 

[furi0usbee]

• iOS 9
• OS X 10.11
• Streaming music service
• Streaming TV service
• Apple TV refresh
• HomeKit

This could be one of the most exciting WWDC keynotes in many years.

Only Apple TV excites me. I want to see if they can once and for all change media distribution for the better.

 

[Chytin]

For me it will probably be one of the most boring WWDCs. Dont know why, maybe because i'm getting old.
iOS9? Meh, i switched to Android when iphones had small screens.
OS X? I'll switch to Windows this year, OS X is terrible lately, plus i want upgradable hardware.
Streaming music service? No, thank you, i buy my music.
Apple TV refresh? Couldn't care less about another ATV if it doesn't support playing bluray rips directly from my NAS.

iOS9? Meh, i switched to Android when iphones had small screens. ==> wait, didn't you buy an iPhone 6 Plus and gave it to your mum?

OS X? I'll switch to Windows this year, OS X is terrible lately, plus i want upgradable hardware. ==> Enjoy Windows 8 then or do you think Windows 10 will be better? (and next version of OSX not?)

Streaming music service? No, thank you, i buy my music. ==> well, good for you. Apple streaming service won't be free (maybe for a few months).

Apple TV refresh? Couldn't care less about another ATV if it doesn't support playing bluray rips directly from my NAS. ==> so you want Apple TV to play those pr0n MKV's you downloaded from Usenet? Perhaps there will be app support for the new Apple TV and you can download VLC or Infuse to watch them. Just make sure you have enough tissues ready.

I don't think you have any Apple devices. I mean just look at all your posts and they way you comment on them. You are just an Fandroid commenting on an Apple forum. Well whatever keeps you from the streets...but easy on those taco's, coke, hamburgers and fries.

 

[Ajones330]

I'm a hip hop fan and have listened to Drake since his first mixtape(Comeback Season). He definitely has not rapped about how hard his life is or has ever been. He is actually known for rapping about the things that he has gone through which includes other rappers thinking he is soft for being on that show Degrassi. People please stop writing about people you don't even listen to. I would never make a comment to say Kenny Chesney makes bad music because it's not my taste. Apple is using these artists because they have huge following. Nothing more nothing less. Times have changed and consumers have as well, so your beloved Apple has to change with the times. Still a great company that will continue to include a variety for all their consumers...

 

[LordVic]

I'm a hip hop fan and have listened to Drake since his first mixtape(Comeback Season). He definitely has not rapped about how hard his life is or has ever been. He is actually known for rapping about the things that he has gone through which includes other rappers thinking he is soft for being on that show Degrassi. People please stop writing about people you don't even listen to. I would never make a comment to say Kenny Chesney makes bad music because it's not my taste. Apple is using these artists because they have huge following. Nothing more nothing less. Times have changed and consumers have as well, so your beloved Apple has to change with the times. Still a great company that will continue to include a variety for all their consumers...

The guy grew up in Forest Hill (very affluent, multi million dollar homes) area of Toronto. he's a "kid star" from being on Canadian TV.

you can like his music, but the guy is nothing more than an act. there was no "starting at the bottom"