Apple's Beats trademarks hint at Beats 2, 3, 4 and 5
Apple has filed a bunch of trademarks for its online, 24-hour Beats radio station, in fact indicating that four further stations could launch as part of Cupertino’s Apple Music offering: Beats 2, Beats 3, Beats 4, and Beats 5.
Apple’s Beats expansion
Currently, Zane Lowe (formerly of BBC Radio 1) oversees Beats 1, Apple’s first and, as of this writing, only Internet radio station (which is available free of charge inside of the iOS Music app). It has previously been said that Apple could be planning something of a Beats expansion, and today’s news indeed seems to hint that this could be in the works.
Trademark applications filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in November, and uncovered today by French-language website Consomac (via MacRumors), include marks for Beats 2, Beats 3, Beats 4, and Beats 5. All of these trademarks are, at present, pending review.
Goods and Services: broadcasting and transmission of voice, data, images, music, audio, video, multimedia, television, and radio by means of telecommunications networks; broadcast and transmission of streamed music, audio, video, and multimedia content by means of telecommunications networks; matching users for the transfer of music, audio, video, and multimedia by means of telecommunications networks; providing access to websites, databases, electronic bulletin boards, on-line forums, directories, music, and video and audio programs.
As MacRumors goes on to explain, Apple indeed has the licensing terms with labels to create “up to five additional radio stations like Beats 1 without needing to negotiate new terms,” though before now, we’ve questioned whether there is a market for Beats 2 through to 5.
Does the world need more than one Beats radio station? Apple could definitely leverage this clause within the contracts not only to provide around the clock live radio broadcasting, but also to appeal to a larger audience that does not speak English. Another English-language Beats station does not make sense to me, but broadening the scope to include stations in Japanese, Chinese, Russian, French, Spanish, or other languages could definitely set Apple Music apart from the crowd. Bringing live radio to a non-English-speaking audience would help build subscribers around the world.
Additional language support would definitely be a smart idea, rather than offering multiple Beats stations which cater to a range of different music genres and tastes. Though of course it remains to be seen whether this is indeed part of Apple’s plan.
For now, Beats 1 is available inside of the iOS Music app, and it has been since Apple Music launched back in June; aside from Zane Lowe, the station also anchored by Ebro Darden and Julie Adenuga in New York City and London, respectively. We’ll keep you posted with further Beats news as we receive it.
