iCloud Coming? Apple May Be Close To Signing Cloud Music Deals

CNET reports that Apple has already signed a cloud-music licensing agreement with EMI Music and is close to closing deals with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, according to music industry sources.

In addition to these labels, Apple already has a cloud music deal with Warner Music Group in place.

Cloud-music services allow users to store their music in servers online, instead of just on devices, so that it can be accessed from any gadget with Internet access.

Competitors Amazon and Google have already introduced unlicensed cloud-music services to the public, a move that has had some music industry executives grumbling. Apple's deals would make them the first to launch a licensed cloud-music service.

Though Apple's offering would not be the first cloud-music service on the market, Apple's licensing agreements would give it the power to possess features that Amazon and Google cannot. CNET described one possibility:

One example is that instead of requiring users to spend hours uploading their songs to the company's servers, as Google and Amazon do, Apple could just scan a user's hard drives to see what songs they own and then provide them almost-instant streaming access to master recordings. The process is sometimes referred to as "scan and match." The music service Lala, which Apple acquired in December 2009, made this process famous.

Sources did not know when Apple would announce the service, though CNET speculated that Apple might close deals with all four of the major record labels by June 6, when Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference begins. A recent report claimed that Apple had purchased the domain name iCloud.com, in preparation for this service.

Comments

[jabreal00]

10:52 AM on 05/21/2011

One can always trust Apple to do things correctly.

[wilray]

12:07 PM on 05/20/2011

I don't see where Apple's music service, as it s described, offers any benefits over a MOG primo account.

[Complex757]

11:34 AM on 05/20/2011

I think it might be a good tool to be used in addition to Googles service. I'd have a problem with Apple controlling and having access to all my music. Would they even allow you to play non iTunes purchased music?

[Naonori Ozawa]

01:38 AM on 05/20/2011

I'm more of an iCup of coffee kinda person.

Kidding aside, moving the storage space from personal HDDs to the 'cloud' is not so big of a leap in my opinion. How it can interface with other loads of information available on the internet is the key. Apple seems to have an upper hand in that area, though, if it can integrate the existing iTunes services into the cloud space. If it's going to enable independent artists to freely publish their works online via iCloud, that'll get interesting.

[MantisBot]

09:06 PM on 05/19/2011

What really bothers me is that Apple would be scanning my hard-drive. Can you say creepy? I'd rather go with something where you pay a monthly fee and get access to all of the music the service has in its database. I don't like the idea of a corporation having access to the contents of my computer. Even if they can't download the actual files, you can learn a lot about someone by the programs and files they have on their computers.

What really surprises me is that none of the previous comments mention this.

[pkafin]

11:01 AM on 05/20/2011

That is surprising. However, I assume, with such a service, that feature would be optional

[SmartladyDem]

05:05 PM on 05/19/2011

What about stuff we have bought in the past-I can download my apps-but lose my music?

[14tavoliberal]

03:24 PM on 05/19/2011

Isn't their cloud service called MobileMe?

[theveggiedude]

06:51 PM on 05/19/2011

MobileMe is mainly a cloud storage service, but they have bigger plans.

Tablets were around for 10 years before Apple jumped in and then dominated it.

Will cloud computing be the same way?

[jgeurian21]

10:37 AM on 05/19/2011

Why not just create your own personal cloud to stream to your devices? I stream my live and recorded TV, videos, music and any pictures from my HTPC and WHS to my iDevices and PCs, on both the inside and outside of my network. There are tons of services out there for both OSX and Windows that can accomplish this pretty well for either a low price or free. I for one don't trust Google, Amazon or Apple with anything I own.

[Mydian01]

11:34 AM on 05/19/2011

because not everyone lives in a basement and knows assembly to get something like that up and running. at least now my grandmother can get her barbara streisand in the front room with zero knowledge of php or c++

[jgeurian21]

12:17 PM on 05/19/2011

LOL. Ever hear of Orb? I guess downloading and running a program is too hard for you? But nice of you to jump to conclusions on things you don't know anything about. Why not actually educate yourself first then comment. You might look like less of an idiot.

[jflorish]

12:42 PM on 05/19/2011

You're right, I have no problem with just letting the site store them for me.

[omg wtf lol bbq]

11:55 PM on 05/19/2011

Why waste my capped Comcast bandwidth?

[terry90]

09:49 AM on 05/19/2011

why don't they just start a music subscription service with iTunes -- like Rhapsody? I love Rhapsody, I think it's the best system.. you pay $10/mo and can listen to anything you want (everything they have in their music library, which is MASSIVE), w/o having to download or purchase anything.. they also have an iPhone app, and you can listen to whatever is in your Rhapsody playlists even if yr iPhone is not online (w/o having to download tracks..)

[theveggiedude]

10:11 AM on 05/19/2011

I don't like the idea of renting music.

[terry90]

10:18 AM on 05/19/2011

I don't like the idea of purchasing a track I may listen to only once or twice....;-) to each his own, I guess....enjoy your music man... :-)

[Daron Gardner]

11:52 AM on 05/19/2011

Me neither. I buy what I like. Would be nice to have it wherever I go though.

[wilray]

10:31 PM on 05/19/2011

I used to have Rhapsody but I switch to MOG. They made a Mogger out of me. Their music library is 11+ million same as Rhapsody. They're half the price of Rhapsody, and they have a lot of features. They have a great UI, that only gets better when you use the Chrome extension; I love how you can expand the album cover of a song that is playing up to full screen size.

http://support.mog.com/kb/general-information/how-does-mog-compare-with-other-music-services

[Muhd Hanis]

08:58 AM on 05/19/2011

Spotify is coming to US and say it may down the iTunes
http://yuppygadget.com

[Mydian01]

11:36 AM on 05/19/2011

ya, you might want to link to an actual article.

itunes needs some real competition, so far its just steamrolled everything in its path.

[jgeurian21]

12:31 PM on 05/19/2011

iTunes share of Music sales rose by 4% to 28%. During that same time Amazon rose by 3% to 12%. If have 2X the marketshare of a competitor is "steamrolling" then what does that mean for things like Apple's line of PCs and laptops which have less than 6% global market share? Does that mean Apple is not a real competitor to MS branded PCs? I think a lot of people would disagree with me on that, including Apple.