Apple rumored to be close to Internet radio service


The New York Times reports Apple is nearing launch of its own Internet radio service:

Apple's service, a Pandora-like feature that would tailor streams of music to each user's taste, has been planned since at least last summer. But Apple has made little progress with record labels and music publishers, which have been seeking higher royalty rates and guaranteed minimum payments, according to these people, who spoke anonymously about the private talks.


NYT reports that progress has been made with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. Reportedly Sony is still a work in progress. The service is thought to compete with the many existing streaming services from Pandora, Google, Spotify, and others. It's thought Apple will offer its service for free and plug into the company's iAds system to generate revenue. Apple is reportedly offering more favorable rates than Pandora with the promise of track sales from the iTunes Store.

The recent rumors suggest Apple may be pushing to launch such a service at next week's WWDC.