AllThingsD reports that a source familiar with the negotiations between Sony Music and Apple, re: “iRadio” have come to a successful conclusion, with Sony Music on board for the Cupertino firm’s forthcoming streaming music service. This means Apple has come to an agreement with all three major music labels.
The deal means that Apple now has agreements with all three major music labels. Apple had been pushing music executives to come aboard in advance of its annual developer conference next week, so you should expect to hear an official announcement Monday.
It’s still possible that Apple may have hurdles to clear. As of earlier this week, the company had yet to sign up Sony/ATV, Sony’s music publishing arm.
The chasm between Sony/ATV and Apple is reported to be smaller than the differences Sony Music and Apple were looking at just a few short days ago, so hopefully, things can be all tied up by Monday’s Worldwide Developers Conference kickoff.
Apple previously signed with Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group, the two other major labels.
AllThingsD doesn’t expect Apple to actually launch iRadio at WWDC, but instead expects it to inform developers about the upcoming service, which is expected to operate much like the popular music streaming service Pandora.
Apple has been negotiating with music owners since last fall, mostly over payments and how they will play out. The recent issues with Sony were mostly over “skipped” songs. Sony wanted to get paid for any of its tunes Apple streamed to listeners, even if the user skipped the tune before listening to it in its entirety.
