Say goodbye to Apple Music’s Beats 1 — at least in name. Today, Apple announced it was rebranding its flagship radio station from Beats 1 to Apple Music 1. It’s a logical move, given that “Beats 1” was the only place Beats branding showed up in the Apple Music service. But on the other hand, the station has been going for over five years now, and Apple calls is “one of the most-listened-to radio stations in the world.” Regardless, it should be simple for regular listeners to make the transition, and the Apple Music brand at this point is strong enough to be the name for the company’s flagship offering.
Apple Music is also launching a few new, very mainstream stations today. Apple Music Hits will focus on, as you might expect, the biggest songs from the ‘80s, ‘90s and 2000s, something that implies it won’t focus on newer music. The show will be hosted in a similar fashion to Apple Music 1; hosts include Sayde Donovan, Estelle, Lowkey, Jenn Marino, George Stroumboulopoulos, Sabi, Nicole Sky and Natalie Sky. There are also artist-led shows by Backstreet Boys, Ciara, Mark Hoppus, Huey Lewis, Alanis Morissette, Snoop Dogg, Meghan Trainor, Shania Twain and more. That gives you a pretty good idea of what kind of music you can expect to hear here.