You can bet that Zane Lowe is not fretting too much about the state of his JNLR figures next week. The quarterly barometer of Irish radio listening habits is where every show and broadcaster is a winner and audiences are always going up. Former BBC DJ Lowe now heads up Beats 1, Apple’s new global 24/7 radio station. So it will be interesting to see if Lowe, Apple Music and Beats 1 will make an appearance in time in that bizarre survey.

There is no doubt that Beats 1 will gain listeners here, regardless of whether future JNLR books capture the trend or not. The new Apple set-up is a quality operation serving an audience no Irish station is that bothered with during daylight hours. Beats 1’s Irish listenership may quickly reach a number commensurate with the audience reach or share of any domestic music broadcaster of a similar ilk.

You can extrapolate many readings from Apple’s foray into radio, but the one that shines brightest at the outset is probably the importance of the medium. The fact that radio continues to be seen as such a big player may baffle many who have long abandoned the wireless, yet the music industry and most bands continue to see radio as the game they have to win.

The music industry’s simple shorthand when it comes to promotion hasn’t changed a jot in decades: you have to be played on the radio to have a hit. When it comes to promotion, radio is targeted for love and loathing above everything else.

Labels and promoters go to insane lengths to plamás the stations and ensure plugs and plays. On the other hand, Irish bands of every stripe give out about not getting played on Irish radio with an obsessional frequency.

Some even go fuming to politicians when they suspect they’re not getting a fair crack of the whip. That’s something Apple won’t have to worry about (for now at least), along with the need to placate advertisers.

What’s noteworthy about Beats 1 to date is the emphasis on new music. You’d expect every radio station to be similarly preoccupied, but that’s rarely the case across the dial. On Beats 1, it’s all new music nearly all the time. As was the case on Lowe’s old BBC Radio One show, a certain mainstream alt-rock sound dominates his playlists. It’s also a tone which is clear across much of the station’s schedule, making for an experience which is more mainstream festival than the more eclectic and idiosyncratic nature of, say, KCRW or Resonance.

Given the level of investment in Apple Music and Beats 1, it’s obvious this is not some short-term play by the technology company. Should it be a success, there’s no doubt that others may seek to emulate the formula. Radio has outlasted many physical formats, yet it may well take a technology company to shake things up in the sector.

You’ve got to hear this

Wilco

Star Wars

What’s not to like about a surprise new Wilco album available for free? A fuzzy blast of weirdbeard freak-scene splendour with pop frills galore as the band rip and tear into their wild side all over again.

ETC

Anyone for a shindig? Galway clubbing institution Strange Brew mark the 11th year of their Summer Shindigs at the Roisín Dubh on July 30th with live sets from Not Squares, Daithí, Gangs, Spes, Oh Boland, New Pope, Jet Setter, Dott, Tandem Felix, No Monster Club, Paddy Hanna, Grounds For Invasion, Zinc, Strays and Boyfights plus superstar DJ Gugai playing some tunes. See facebook.com/ strangebrewgalway for more