The rumour regarding a cloud-based streaming service from Apple just refuses to die, with BusinessWeek claiming that Apple could be previewing the service in June at WWDC, after they’ve signed deals with three of the four big music labels.
According to the publication, it’s only Universal Music that they’ve failed to sign up so far, but considering Apple’s status in the industry, I’m sure it won’t be long before hands are shaken and papers and signed. The site says that Apple “will be able to scan customers’ digital music libraries in iTunes and quickly mirror their collections on its own servers,” according to three people who have been involved in the talks with the labels.
What’s piqued my interest is that if Apple detects that the quality of a certain track isn’t quite up to scratch, they’ll replace it with a higher bitrate version. It’s not known if this conversion will cost anything, but considering the cloud-streaming service has been said to be bundled into the MobileMe subscription service that costs $119 a year at the moment, the feature should really be free. [BusinessWeek]