Apple still negotiating 'iRadio' song catalog, says analyst
updated 09:45 am EST, Fri January 4, 2013
Service forecast to launch sometime in 2013
Apple is still negotiating for song catalogs from music labels as it prepares a streaming music service, claims BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield. A number of reports have mentioned such talks in the past, although it's not clear what sort of progress has been made. As recently as early December, some music industry sources indicated that Apple was nowhere near a deal because major music labels were disappointed with Apple's terms.
Greenfield speculates that the streaming service, often nicknamed iRadio, will launch sometime in 2013. "Consumer behavior (is) increasingly shifting toward access to a music catalog from ownership of specific songs," he writes. "We expect iRadio to be incorporated into the iTunes iOS app with personalized radio functionality akin to Pandora, integrated with iTunes to purchase music and other music related content such as concert information/tickets/merchandise via Live Nation (LYV) and Ticketmaster."
