Citing people familiar with the discussions, CNET is reporting that Apple is attempting to shore up last minute deals with various record companies that would net Apple international music licenses for its upcoming iCloud service. If Apple is successful in achieving said deals, an announcement to that effect may be made at Apple’s upcoming iPhone-centric media event this coming Tuesday.
As it stands now, no deals have yet been signed, but the negotiating parties are reportedly close to signing on the dotted line.
Some of the countries that could receive access to iCloud include Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, the sources said. Apple is facing a growing number of competitors in the digital music sector, including Amazon, Spotify, and Turntable.fm.
Apple’s complete iCloud package will offer users backing up and syncing services via the cloud along with iTunes Match which will enable users to store their music in the cloud and download (not stream) it back to any number of Apple devices.
The report should be taken with a small grain of salt given previous reports that record labels in the UK aren’t planning to join the iCloud party just yet and are instead taking a wait-and-see approach to see how the service affects music downloads in the US.
Sun, Oct 2, 2011
News, Rumors