Apple could launch up to five new Beats radio stations

Apple has the right to launch up to five new Beats radio stations, according to a new report.

Apple Music may not be the slickest music streaming service on the market, and it’s attracted mix reviews since its launch a little over a month ago. However, most seem to agree that its 24-hour radio station component, Beats 1, is a major tick in the plus column.

Which is why we’re particularly interested to read claims that Apple has free reign to expand its radio service offering many times over.

According to The Verge‘s sources, Apple has licenses for up to five additional stations on top of Beats 1. This means that it could launch Beats 2 through to Beats 6 without having to renegotiate with music labels – a process that was infamously tough for Apple in the process of getting its own streaming service off the ground.

As the report notes, the first natural step could be to set up a Beats station in Asia or Australia so as to provide a true 24-hour service. At present, only 12 hours of Apple’s daily broadcast is live, with the other half made up of repeat content.

Of course, that’s all just speculation at this point.

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Whatever Apple chooses to do, it seems as if the music labels will be more than happy. It’s claimed that the labels are “pretty pleased” with how the service has been going so far, which could come down to the fact that Apple pays labels more per song played than rival service Pandora.

However, the report claims that labels are reserving full judgement until after Apple’s generous three month trial period ends. It’s only when customers start committing their own cash to Apple Music that we’ll really know if it’s been a success or not.

Apple Music users should check out some of our top tips for iOS 8 in the following video: