In June, Apple announced the opening of the new Apple Music studios in Los Angeles. Described as an “ambitious creative project,” the new building also marked the tenth anniversary of Apple Music. For the first time, Apple opened the doors of its new studio in L.A. to the media, and we were among the first to see what’s inside.
From state-of-the-art recording studios to artist lounges and even a fully immersive room for mixing Dolby Atmos audio, here’s everything we saw at Apple Music’s new building in L.A.
‘Creative campus’ for artists
The new Apple Music building is much more than just a studio. Apple sees it as a “creative campus” not only for those working there every day, but also for artists who collaborate with the platform. The entire facility is over 15,000 square feet.
Oliver Schusser, VP of Apple Music and Beats, told us that the new building was designed to accommodate all kinds of activities that the platform needs, such as interviews, DJ mixes, Spatial Audio mixes, launch parties, and events.
Apple Music Studio green room
Filipe Esposito/Foundry
The tour began with a visit to two different green rooms, which are basically lounges where artists can relax while they wait to go live on Apple Music Radio, for example. The rooms are also often used to create content for social media. Each room has unique décor, always with photos of artists on the walls.
Apple Music lounge
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Apple Music studio social media station
Filipe Esposito/Foundry
Apple also has an in-house photography studio to create promotional content for Apple Music, such as artwork for its playlists. In addition to numerous professional cameras and lights, the room has a Mac Studio connected to multiple Pro Display XDRs to show the results in real time.
Apple Music photo studio
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State-of-the-art radio studios
During the tour, we met Zane Lowe, the famous DJ who hosts his own talk show on Apple Music and has been working with Apple since 2015. Speaking of Zane’s show, we also got to take a look at the studio where it’s recorded. It’s impressive.
Apple Music Radio studio for The Zane Lowe Show.
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Apple Music Radio studio
Filipe Esposito/Foundry
Apple Music Radio studio
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The building has two cutting-edge radio studios that can be easily adapted for live interviews, podcasts, casual chats, or even performances. The architecture is quite futuristic. There’s a table in the center with all the radio equipment and a large sofa in front of high-resolution panels that take up almost the entire wall.
Cameras and a really cool microphone in the Apple Music studios.
Filipe Esposito/Foundry
The studios are equipped with multiple professional cameras so that they can film everything from different angles. We’re talking Hollywood-level productions here. Another nice touch is the custom microphone with the Apple Music logo mounted on a mechanical arm that looks a lot like the iMac G4 adjustable arm.
Apple Studios switcher room
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To power and run these studios, Apple has a huge control room with multiple switchers and monitors. But the best part was seeing that the tables were designed to hide the equipment when necessary–just like the tables at Apple Stores hide the power outlets. Another great touch from Apple.
Where Spatial Audio comes to life
One of my favorite parts was visiting the Spatial Audio mixing room. Equipped with a 9.2.4 PMC speaker system, this room makes you feel like you’re part of the music. Apple uses the room to edit Dolby Atmos content recorded for Apple Music, while artists can come to get help mixing their music in Spatial Audio.
Apple Music spatial audio control room
Filipe Esposito/Foundry
Once again, everything is super high-tech. The setup is powered by two Apple Silicon Mac Pros. I would love to have a setup like that at home.
The building has two large corridors (A-List Corridor and Archive Corridor) showcasing images and artwork of “unforgettable moments from Apple Music.”
Apple Music studio hallway artwork
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I was able to see an Apple Music Award in one of the hallways. The plaque is made of polished aluminum with a custom Apple silicon wafer and a sheet of glass. It’s really shiny and beautiful.
Filipe Esposito/Foundry
Apple Music’s new studio has a 4,000-square-foot soundstage for live performances, multicam shoots, fan events, and screenings. The facility itself is surrounded by other Apple offices in Culver City, most of them related to services such as Apple TV+ and the sports division. The Beats office is also just around the corner.
Apple did a great job building the new Apple Music studio. It really looks like something Apple would do and represents Apple Music’s journey so far very well, while also showing the company’s ambitions for the platform’s future. Unfortunately, the building is not open to the public, but we hope Apple will hold more events there in the future.
