Are you ready for Apple’s entry into the cloud-based music business? Now that Amazon and Google have shown their hand, it appears they may have only done Apple a favor as the big music labels line up behind their savior once again.
Cnet is reporting that Apple has just inked a licensing deal with EMI Music for their cloud-based iTunes initiative, bringing the company at least halfway there after signing Warner Music Group in April. The even better news for Cupertino is that the other two pieces of the puzzle -- Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment -- are said to also be close to an agreement.
“The negotiations with Sony Music Group and Universal Music Group could be wrapped up as early as next week,” Cnet’s sources revealed on Wednesday evening. “What this means is that signed contracts with all four of the top four record companies will be in Apple's hip pocket on June 6 when Apple kicks off the company's Worldwide Developers Conference. The sources who spoke with CNET did not know when Apple would announce the deals or roll out the cloud service.”
Apple is widely expected to launch a revamp of its cloud-based MobileMe service this year, including an iTunes music component everyone is dubbing “iCloud” for storing your library on a remote server, always accessible from anywhere you have an internet connection on your iOS device.
While Amazon and Google jumped the gun and have released their cloud-based services without licensing deals with the music labels, Apple appears to be following the “slow and steady wins the race” philosophy. The idea is that any music tracks you already own will exist on Apple’s server already, so unlike the competing offerings, there will be little if any uploading necessary. Amazon currently does this, but only with new tracks purchased from its MP3 service -- which then have to be downloaded to your computer if you want them to reside in iTunes.
It will be ironic if Apple winds up being the one to license content from the big music labels, since Cupertino was their savior once before when the iTunes Music Store was first launched in 2003. But will Apple’s move force Amazon and Google into also going the officially licensed route? Only time will tell.
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