Apple is preparing an online radio service like Pandora, according to sources close to the company who spoke to the Wall Street Journal . This supposedly music service will work with all Apple hardware and perhaps even Windows computers, which has led some to speculate that it will be integrated into iTunes instead of being a standalone application.
As expected, the sources believe that the service will not be available on devices with the Google Android operating system.
Enter the market for streaming seems a logical step for Apple though unlike what they did a decade ago with the iPod, not forging a new path. Actually are following well-established services like Pandora and Spotify - even though this market is very difficult. Pandora, for example, has yet to report profits despite significant growth in revenue mainly due to the high cost of the royalties generated by the transmission of music.
The sources also said that Apple is negotiating licenses that would give users the option to play any song as often as you want, which is a common complaint in Pandora. Cupertino apparently also is negotiating their own prices rather than simply accept the rates set so far by the federal government.
Negotiations are still in their early stages so the most likely will not hear anything about the event next week where they will be iPhone 5.
