Cracking the Sony Music deal took the longest, and is the critical “big 3” signing after Universal and Warner Music.
Apple has signed a deal with Sony Music Entertainment, the major label that had remained a tough nut to crack all these months, for the much anticipated iRadio service. This is the third of the Big Three lablels, after Universal and Warner Music deals were sealed sometime back. Vivendi SA is also on board, for the music streaming service. Cracking the deal with Sony Music was turning out to be a very tough nut to crack, and is the last label to sign, after prolonged negotiations.
Bloomberg reports that Sony signed the agreement late last week. It is believed that Apple plans to announce the service, unofficially referred to asd iRadio, at the WWDC conference on June 10. This speculation is further fuelled by sources close to the entire process. Sony’s deal with Apple is believed to have been penned for a two-year introductory period and provides the label with 10 percent of all advertising revenue generated from its library.
“This is a wonderful recognition of songwriters and their contributions to hit records,” said Chief Executive Officer Marty Bandier said in an interview. “For so long they have received the short end of the stick.”
With the record labels signed up, it is believed that Apple will launch a music streaming service to compete with the likes of Pandora. This will be a free to use service, supported by advertisements. Apple believes that the integration with iTunes will help boost download numbers from the store.
It is believed that the “iRadio” service will be unveiled at WWDC. Honestly, Apple cannot afford to delay this service any further. Google recently launched its all All Access streaming service in the U.S. only, recently, and the iOS version is expected soon.
Source-ThinkDigit
