Apple is expected to start a web radio service, sources say
Different sources reveal that Apple is very close to an internet licensing agreement with Universal Music Group. It is expected that the deal will be closed in the next few days, followed by negotiations with the other major players in the musical business – Warner Music and Sony Music. The future streaming service is expected to be similar to Pandora, provided that all negotiations with the music publishers are successful. All three companies have declined to comment the news, saying that they are not going to speak on rumors and speculations.
The new streaming service which was unofficially named iRadio is supposed to boost the download sales of new music and to generate more income from the ads. Helping iTunes, the new service will be similar to Pandora, but it will include more on-demand features. With the development of the streaming services like Spotify and Pandora, there is an imminent thread for Apple’s ambitions to establish itself on the online streaming market. Both platforms offer to users an instant unlimited steaming for a small monthly fee, and eliminate the need for having much free space on the device. On the contrary, Apple has been applying different politics so far – purchasing and storing of single songs in a cloud. Recently from the company revealed that 25 billion songs have been downloaded so far through iTunes.
Talking about the financial details, it is clear that Apple will not receive the discount wanted. According to the rumors, Apple has initially offered only 6 cents per 100 streamed songs, which is far less of what Pandora pays. After declining the offer, the labels agreed for rates very close to Pandora’s. It is yet to be seen what will happen, so stay tuned for more information.
Source: TheVerge
