Courtesy of Benzinga
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has reportedly signed up Sony (NYSE: SNE) Music to its cloud-based music service, paidContent is reporting. The news is another piece to add to the rumor mill, as the much-anticipated subscription-based service gains more attention.
Sony is now in a group that includes Warner Music (NYSE: WMG) and EMI, leaving Universal Music Group as the lone major label holdout. All have been hesitant to enact licensing agreements with tech firms like Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN).
According to a cNet report, “the [new] licensing agreements may let Apple employ the “scan and match” approach, allowing users to avoid the tedious and time-consuming process of uploading their music libraries to Apple’s servers. The music service Lala, which Apple acquired in December 2009, made this process famous.”
Further, a patent application released recently could offer another clue.
Steven Musil of cNet notes that “The application details a system in which music clips from a user’s library are stored locally on a device. When combined with an infrastructure that can fetch the rest of a song once it starts being played, the system would provide users with a seamless music listening experience of their entire library, even without having it on the device.”
This could be a potentially huge offering for Apple. Considering the ubiquity of iTunes and its online store, imagine how the company could capitalize on a cloud-based service? Between an inevitable simplicity of use, cooperation with big record labels and the utilization of new technology, Apple could be looking at a fresh source of profitability.
Watch for Apple to roll out a new offering in a press announcement soon. The company will likely tout software security features, a rethought perspective on music distribution, and the ability to take every song on the go.
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