Apple May be Close to Streaming Music on iTunes

By Cynthia Herbert :: 9:11 PM

Up until now, most people who listened to music online at their desks or through their PCs did so through a music streaming service like Pandora or Spotify, not through Apple’s iTunes, which requires users to pay for and download each song they want into their iTunes account. That may change soon.

In a report published by CNET earlier today, Apple may be very close to closing some deals on the rights to stream music directly out of iTunes. Sources say that the company is very close to deals with two major music labels, Warner Music Group, and Universal Music Group, and that deals could be inked as early as next week, if talks continue to progress well.

Apple’s proposed service would not be a play-on-demand type, as Spotify’s is, but will most likely be closer to the type of streaming done by Pandora, where users can select stations or genres of the types of music they want to listen to, but cannot select a specific song to play at a specific point in time.

With the next major Apple tech event, its Worldwide Developers Conference, set for just a few months from now, in June, these contract negotiations are coming at a critical time. If Apple succeeds in lining up the right music industry players, it might be able to unveil a new iTunes-based streaming service to coincide with its conference.