Apple's new Warner deal breathes life into iRadio Spotify / Pandora streaming rival
Apple’s rumoured “iRadio” Spotify and Pandora music streaming rival is said to have taken one step closer to release, with whispers circulating that the Cupertino company has secured a deal with Warner music.
If true, the news follows rumours of a similar deal having been finalised with Universal Music Group, giving Apple the rights over the libraries of two of the largest music publishing conglomerates in the world.
For Apple to have a comprehensive service however, they’d also need to secure the rights to Sony Music Entertainment’s artists, which could prove difficult considering the many business areas that both companies are rivals in. It’s apparently already been massively difficult for Apple to get this far.
With these new deals apparently secured however, it’s possible that iRadio may be shown off in some form at this month’s WWDC event.
It’s imperative that Apple get into the music streaming field – though iTunes remains the most popular digital music download service, its market is increasingly being eaten at by services like Spotify and Pandora, which offer access to giant catalogues of millions of tracks for a monthly subscription fee.
