Apple has apparently added Sony to the list of record labels that have signed deals for its rumored online music storage service. The Mac, iPhone and iPad maker is said to have already struck deals with Warner and EMI, leaving only Universal to come on board.
Sony hops on the iTunes cloud storage train
News of the deal between Apple and Sony comes from unnamed sources with insider information, according to Bloomberg.
Apple’s online music service is expected to include cloud-based music storage and streaming playback support, support for downloading music to multiple devices, and higher audio quality support compared to competing online music storage services.
Warner Music was rumored to have signed a deal with Apple in March, and rumors claiming EMI signed on, too, surfaced in April and then again this week.
Hashing out deals with the record labels gave Amazon and Google a head start in the online music storage game. Both companies have already launched their services, but without record label deals, and with limited support for Apple’s devices
Amazon and Google’s offerings, however, aren’t sitting well with music label executives that had hoped to get in on their action. The labels claim that without licensing deals in place, users won’t be able to take advantage of as many features and may be limited on the audio quality for the music they store and stream. No deals mean the labels don’t have a chance of snatching up any of the revenue Amazon and Google generate from their online music storage services.
Apple hasn’t confirmed that it is working on an online music storage and streaming service. The company is, however, expected to make an announcement about the rumored service soon, possibly at its World Wide Developer Conference in June.