There are several suitable alternatives to Apple’s free iTunes Music service which is launching tomorrow with iOS 7. Because of this, Apple knows that it must differentiate itself through quality. That’s why the company is currently looking to hire “music programmers”, who are music experts and will be able to help create and curate certain genres for iTunes Radio.
Here’s part of the job description for the “Latin Radio Music Programmer” position:
The individual must be a tastemaker who is passionate about discovering exciting new music and artists. This position requires the ability to decipher the most important key release titles out of hundreds of new releases each month in the Latin music genres. In addition, they will decipher niche associated sub genres. It’s important to be credible with the core audience both in the store features (merchandising, themed content, etc.) as well as through iTunes Radio. Expertise in other genres is definitely a plus. Key genres to be familiar with are Alternative y Rock Latino, Brazilian, Pop Latino, Regional Mexicano, Salsa y Tropical, Latin Jazz and Latin Urban music.
CNET reports that Apple is also asking labels to give them their “heat seeker” lists, which list lesser known up and coming artists that are on the verge of making it big. To best fill theses positions, Apple is reportedly heavily going after record label employees themselves in an attempt to poach them over to work on iTunes Radio.
With Apple on a hiring spree and record companies throwing their support behind the more profitable iTunes Radio service, it’s going to be hard for competing services to stay competitive.
