14 DAY TRIAL // In wake of reports saying Apple had finalized work on its cloud-based iTunes music streaming locker, industry sources are now leaking information pertaining to the actual deals surrounding this service, which many believe will be tied to a revamped version of MobileMe.
Talking to All Things D, one of these sources said Apple had already signed with at least two of the four big music labels, which include Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony and EMI.
[admark=1]The source wasn’t specific as to which two were the ones coming to terms with Apple, but did say that such talks finalized within the last two months.
Another source told the blog that Apple’s Vice President of Internet Services, Eddy Cue, would be stopping by New York today in an effort to finalize remaining deals.
One industry executive reportedly said, “They’ve been very aggressive and thoughtful about it. It feels like they want to go pretty soon,” this person added.
Industry executives reached by the blog admitted to not having “seen” the service themselves, though claimed to be aware of the “broad strokes.”
Specifically, these people said, Apple’s much-hyped locker will be a simple service that lets users stream content purchased from the iTunes store to all their devices.
As opposed to Amazon’s cloud locker, which has users manually storing everything themselves, Apple’s will reportedly stream one ‘master’ copy of these files to anyone that owns it on their account.
This would not only absorb the licensing costs, but it would also save Apple a lot of storage space.
Again comparing the Apple locker to Amazon’s, these people emphasized that Mac and iDevice owners would benefit form a more “robust service” with a better user interface, sound quality, and other features, though people have come to expect that as standard from the people in Cupertino.