A few short days away from the start of WWDC 2011, and the unveiling of iCloud, Apple has reportedly cut a licensing deal with Universal Music Group which will give Apple the ability to now offer songs from the largest of the four top record companies. Not only that, but Apple has also come to agreement with some of the largest music publishers.
As it has now been made mention, Apple announced on Tuesday that yes, they would be unveiling their cloud services on June 6 at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. While Apple didn't specify whether iCloud might include music features, Apple managers have sought for more than a year to obtain a music feature for the service.
Details about the agreements Apple has cut with the record companies have been few and far between, but according to sources: the labels will get 58 percent, publishers will receive 12 percent and Apple will get 30 percent.
While streaming would not be readily available on Monday, it will be ready soon. Sources also said that an Apple digital locker will only store music that is purchased at iTunes. Don't fret if you were worried about what that means for the rest of your non-iTunes library. Apple will reportedly offer that feature in the future.
Bringing Universal Music into the fold, was the last of the big four that Apple had been seeking in regard to recording rights. However, in terms of publishing and performance rights, Apple still needs to negotiate more deals, and the talks could go down to crunch time.
via CNET
Follow this article's author, Matthew Tilmann on Twitter
(Image courtesy of hitechanalogy.com)
