An Apple executive reportedly will be in New York to obtain agreements with the recording labels yet to sign-on to a cloud-based iTunes deal. Thursday, multiple reports suggested the Cupertino, Calif. company is preparing to launch a service enabling iTunes users to store and listen to songs over the Internet.
Although Amazon launched a cloud-based music locker service in March, Apple reportedly may offer a service with “better user interfaces, sound quality, and other features” with the help of the licensing pacts. Among the features could be the ability for Apple to store a single copy of a song that is then streamed to multiple users.
Apple has signed licensing agreements with two of the four lables, reports say.
The new service could appear as part of a remodeled MobileMe. A streaming service has been suggested for years, following the 2009 acquisition by Apple of music service Lala and the $1 billion purchase and construction of a North Carolina data facility.
Google also was said to have been chasing the streaming music dream, but reportedly has dropped out, preferring instead to pursue a subscription-based alternative.
