iTunes to take on Spotify with music streaming?

Apple may be upping the ante when it comes to iTunes. 9to5Mac has found traces of a “radio button” within the iOS 6.1 iPad Music.app as well as the word “buy,” in the button file name – suggesting that a streaming service similar to Xbox Music and Spotify is on the cards.

Although the same radio button reportedly cannot be found in the iPhone Music app, the New York Times reported last September that Apple was eyeing up potential record label deals to offer something akin to the Pandora music radio service whereby the music you listen to is tailored to you.

Bloomberg also reports that Apple has met with executives from Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group Corp, and Sony Corp to discuss a streaming music service. It’s reportedly set to launch in the first quarter of this year – so a streaming iTunes service is looking like a case of when, not if. After all, buying albums is so 90s, isn’t it?

[9to5Mac via The Verge]

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Dan Grabham Editor-in-Chief

About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website.  Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.

Areas of expertise

Computing, mobile, audio, smart home