No UK iTunes Match until 2012 say experts
Though Apple already have deals in place for their cloud-based iTunes Match music service that ensure its launch in the USA later this year, us poor chumps in dear old Blighty will likely have to wait until Q1 of 2012 at the earliest before we see it hit our iTunes platforms.
“Tentative talks have begun between the major labels and Apple in the UK. However, all talks are at the really early stages and no one expects to see the cloud music service live on this side of the pond until 2012,” an anonymous music executive told the Telegraph.
Likewise, the Performing Rights Society (PRS), the group that ensures royalties are paid to artists and bands every time their songs are sold or played on the radio, has yet to finalise terms with Apple regarding the usage of iTunes Match in the UK.
“The licensing team at the PRS have started talks with Apple, but are a long way off from any deals being signed. It is very much the early stages of the negotiations and is similar to the launch of iTunes, which began in the US and took a while to roll out to other countries,” they said.
Earlier this week Apple announced the launch of the iCloud, a cloud storage and syncing service that allows file types of all kinds, including media purchased from iTunes, to be synced to remote data storage and then shared wirelessly with any PC, Mac, iPhone, iPod or iPad that had access to the iCloud. iTunes Match, the iCloud service that deals specifically with music, was the most controversial feature, as it will allow users to match their entire catalogue of songs, whether they have been legally or illegally acquired, with high quality iTunes versions of the same song and then stream them too wirelessly from the iCloud to all their compatible devices.
For more information on iTunes Match and the iCloud, click here.
