Apple Faces Roadblock in Planned Internet Radio Service

The way Apple has been racking up milestone after milestone is nothing short of astonishing. It seems as though the tech giant has unlimited resources and lady luck on its side. Everything goes its way when it decides to launch a new product or even sue an opponent. But there is the occasional roadblock along the way, even if they are ascending at rocket speed. It seems like Apple has hit a hurdle finally when its negotiations with Sony regarding their planned internet Apple Radio service broke down.

Creating a Parallel Universe to Pandora

Pandora, as you would know, is the leading internet based radio station in the US. It has deals in place with the major record labels for payment per stream. Apple on the other hand is seeking a payment package which is more flexible and doesn’t follow the usual payment model. This is why they are negotiating with Sony to provide their service to listeners.

Sony, being the world’s leading music publisher, is in a position of strength and seems to be making the best use of it. Most of the internet radio services pay less than a penny per stream on their radio stations. However, Sony is not willing to go down to that price level and is pushing Apple for a higher pay rate.

Apple wants to make internet radio more accessible and user friendly, for which it needs the cooperation of Sony. It seems the company is bent on creating a parallel online radio service to Pandora which would allow users to listen to the same song multiple times. In addition, the listeners would be able to purchase that song from iTunes as well.

How Much Listeners Would Have to Pay?

At this point, the news from the industry doing the rounds is that Apple wants to make the service free of cost for listeners. This means that Apple would make no money whatsoever from the broadcasting of its internet based radio service. What they will do is allow ads to be inserted into the app using the iAd feature.

Businesses would be able to buy advertising space on their internet radio station and would have to pay Apple for it. As a result, Apple would be able to make money from the radio service but at no cost to the listeners.

What to Expect?

As with all things Apple, you can expect a top-of-the-line, cutting-edge internet radio service which would push the boundaries of the medium. Though there is no official word on the matter, Apple is planning to have the radio play music according to the listeners’ taste. There is no need to look for your favorite song. If you have selected your preferences regarding genre, artist and era right, the type of songs you like will be played for you.

This also gives Apple the opportunity to cover up the fact that not every artist’s music is available on iTunes. So far, the planned Apple internet radio service looks like an interesting prospect. Let’s hope Sony agrees to the terms & conditions.

[Image via contenton]