According to those familiar with the matter, Apple is pushing to complete licensing deals with music companies so it can reveal the rumored ‘iRadio’ service as early as next week at WWDC.
Apple has apparently just struck a licensing deal with both Warner Music Group and its publishing arm Warner Chappell, bringing iRadio closer to a reality. Apple still has not been able to get Sony on board, but does have Universal Music Group.
Apple’s service, a Pandora-like feature that would tailor streams of music to each user’s taste, has been planned since at least last summer. But Apple has made little progress with record labels and music publishers, which have been seeking higher royalty rates and guaranteed minimum payments, according to these people, who spoke anonymously about the private talks.
While it is still at odds with some music companies over deal terms, Apple is said to be eager to get the licenses in time to unveil the service — nicknamed iRadio by the technology press — at its annual developers conference, which begins June 10 in San Francisco.
Apple’s iRadio service is rumored to be supported by ads like Spotify and Pandora, unlike Google’s subscription service. The product is also rumored to be tied with iTunes and offer some features that Pandora does not such as the ability to rewind a song.
Hopefully we will finally get to see iRadio’s next week at the WWDC keynote — along with a new iOS and OS X.
via nytimes
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