Report: Apple secures major music labels for new iTunes cloud service

by Steven Mostyn - May 20 2011, 08:08

Clearly not content with having cornered the online music market with iTunes, trend-setting gadget giant Apple has reportedly secured deals with several major music publishers as it prepares to introduce a new cloud-based iTunes service.

Citing “people with knowledge of the deals,” Bloomberg claims Apple’s upcoming cloud platform will allow users to store and access their iTunes content through the Net as opposed to carrying it with them as data in a conventional music-playing device.

Speaking from behind a requested veil of anonymity, the business news magazine’s sources also said Jobs & Co. could be ready to reveal the new online service during Apple’s upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC)—which kicks off on June 6.

If the leaked insider information is accurate, Apple has already agreed licensing deals with the likes of Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, and EMI Group, while a similar accord with Universal Music is also supposedly in the pipeline.

Although it is not yet known if Apple will charge for access to the cloud platform—and when it will officially launch—there are rumours circulating that the iTunes extension could be rolled out as part of a wider MobileMe overhaul.

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