Have you ever found it annoying that you can’t re-download music you’ve already purchased from iTunes? Apparently, Apple agrees with you, as a new report claims the company is hard at work negotiating for unlimited downloads as part of their initiative to move iTunes closer to the cloud.

Bloomberg is reporting that Apple and the recording industry are engaged in negotiations aimed at making life easier on iTunes users by allowing music tracks to be downloaded more than once -- particularly handy for users with multiple computers who have to come up with more creative methods of keeping their libraries in sync.

According to “three people with knowledge of the plans,” Apple’s intentions appear to be aimed at giving users “a permanent backup of music purchases if the originals are damaged or lost.” The concept would also allow iOS device owners to download any music linked to the same iTunes account to their iPad, iPhone or iPod touch as needed.

“The arrangement would give users more flexibility in how they access purchased music,” the report continues. “Apple and the record labels are eager to maintain demand for digital downloading amid rising popularity for Internet services such as Pandora Media Inc., which don’t sell tracks and instead let users stream songs from the Web, whatever the device.”

While Apple continues to hold the lead in digital music downloads with 69 percent of the market in the U.S. as of September, the overall business appears to have stalled. According to Nielsen SoundScan, digital track sales rose a mere one percent last year, while overall album sales fell 12.7 percent during the same time.

Apple’s unlimited downloads could also play into the company’s plans to overhaul their $99 per year MobileMe service, which is widely rumored to go free at some point in the near future. “Users could store photos, contacts, e-mail and other content on Apple’s servers,” one person familiar with the company’s plans explained.

All of this download activity will likely be centered around Apple’s new $1 billion data center expected to open its doors soon in North Carolina, which is expected to be the new hub for iTunes and MobileMe services.

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