iPhone and iPad owners may soon be able to instantly listen to music without buying and downloading massive audio files from iTunes. Apple is working on a streaming music service that would compete with the likes of Pandora and Spotify, according to The Wall Street Journal. The report came just a week before Apple is expected to introduce a 4G LTE-ready iPhone 5. Already available in the third-generation iPad (models starting at $629), LTE would allow a streaming service at high quality and without interruption. Apple would use its iAd platform to put product placements between tracks played by its own virtual radio stations. Talks with record labels are still ongoing, and the service could be rolled out in "months," the WSJ said.
What Else You Need To Know
- Apple abandoned previous efforts for its own music streaming service due to high licensing costs, but the success of Pandora and other Internet radios may have prompted the Cupertino, California-based company to put up its own streaming service.
- Apple is said to be in talks for slightly different streaming licenses because it wants more flexibility and higher degree of user interactivity.
Other sources
If Apple is able to offer additional features through better licenses with record companies, it could potentially crush the competition.- Jenni, Pad Gadget
Label chiefs used to blame Apple and its iTunes store for part of their decline, but they’ve gotten over that. And they like generating additional revenue streams.- Peter Kafka, AllThingsD
- Other
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Apple working on Pandora-like music service, WSJ reports
Pandora places a variety of restrictions on how users can choose and skip through songs, so Apple may be gunning for something that straddles the border between Pandora and full-on subscription services like Spotify and Rdio, though it would use its iAd platform to intersperse product placements between tracks.
- Other
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Apple Wants to Build Its Own Pandora. Why?
Apple could launch a Pandora clone tomorrow without the labels’ permission, because if it wanted to do a straightforward “Web radio” service, it could use the same compulsory licenses that Pandora and other Web radio services use.
- PCWorld
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Apple Mulls Licensing Radio Streaming Service, Report Says
Streaming music services have been marked by failure due to difficulties in securing deals with record labels, high licensing costs and onerous restrictions on how content can be played or stored.
- Android Central
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Apple reportedly working on Pandora-style streaming music service. Again.
The company has in the past contemplated and abandoned other interactive features, including a Spotify-like service that would have let users rent unlimited amounts of music for a fixed monthly fee.
- Chip Chick
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WSJ: Apple To Compete With Pandora Streaming Music This Fall?
Surely we got iTunes Match last year where you can stream your own music across iOS devices without physically downloading it to the device, but the catch is that you have to own it first.
- Other
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Pandora shares down 14 percent on reports of rival Apple service
While some see Apple's entry as a threat to Pandora, others see it as an endorsement of its business model.
- Other
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Apple Working on Pandora-Like Service?
According to the sources, the streaming service will be available across the board on iOS and Mac OS devices, and possibly also PCs.