Just a while ago that suggested Apple was ready to “bring the fight” to services like Pandora and Spotify. And now a new rumor is claiming that the Cupertino company will have their streaming service up and running sometime during the first quarter of 2013.
The speculation comes from Bloomberg, who has apparently interviewed “individuals who do not wish to be named” and who are in close working relation to the project. According to these sources, Apple has begun an intense negotiating process with a variety of big name music rights companies including Vivendi, Warner, Sony, and Universal. All four of these big names have reportedly already met with Apple, although the source did not explain what these meetings were exactly about or if any deals were struck.
Apple’s service is promising to be different than that of Pandora, and will allow users more flexibility. Pandora users are generally only allowed to skip a certain number or tracks or receive a number of plays. Pandora remains as a free service because it uses advertisements and endorsements to help pay for its server space. Customers are generally required to “endure” these ads in order to keep the service free. Apple is planning to create a similar scenario with their iTunes-based service, but would be eliminating the “allowed number of skips” and opening the service up for better customization.
Reports also state that Apple will be working in conjunction with iAd, and it’s suggested that other companies are expressing interest in placing their product advertisements directly “into listeners’ ears.” Hopefully we will get a little more information regarding how the streaming service will work in the months to come.
Photo Credit: Apple
