A revamped MobileMe service from Apple, allowing users unlimited downloads of music to multiple devices. According to a new report, the company is planning such an announcement for the middle of this year.
Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was looking into a relaunch of its MobileMe online storage service. Currently, the $99-a-year service lets subscribers store data in the cloud and synchronize their contacts and calendars across devices. The Journal said Apple was considering making MobileMe into a free cloud-based service for a wide variety of digital content, including music, videos and photos.
Pandora, Rhapsody, Spotify
On Thursday, the Bloomberg News Service reported that Apple is negotiating with the big music companies — Universal, Sony, Warner and EMI — to allow unlimited downloads to multiple Apple devices sharing the same iTunes account. The news service said that, according to two people familiar with the planning, an announcement will be made within a few months and could involve a remake of the MobileMe service.
Such an arrangement would provide a permanent backup of music purchases — essentially, a master file in the cloud — in case a given file became damaged or lost. It could also provide a transition for Apple to offer more cloud-based services for its huge stores of content, including movies, e-publications and more.
Streaming cloud-based music services — such as Pandora, Rhapsody and the European service Spotify — are increasing in popularity. Spotify is expected to launch a U.S. version as soon as it concludes deals with the music labels. Pandora has filed for a public offering and its registered user population has doubled in a year to 80 million.
‘Digital Locker’
Some observers expect Apple to avoid using the term “subscription” if it does relaunch MobileMe, but others have described the arrangement as a “digital locker.”…