Okay Geek Farm
iCloud - $25/year and all 4 major labels signed (un-confirmed)
Brandon Davenport
When word leaked from Apple that their next flagship product would be iCloud, people went nuts. Google and Amazon have already gotten a head-start on their own music hosting and streaming services, but we imagine they’re shaking in their boots right now, and we can just see Steve waiting in anticipation to deliver the bad news to Google and Amazon.
Labels won’t sign on for internet music services right?
Well, they have for some streaming services, but there has been such a heated battle between music labels and online services that it seemed like it would never be a complete packege. Well, Apple’s diverse history with the music industry and iTunes has given them a leg up and now it’s rumored that they have all four major music labels on board.
“The agreements, finalized this week, call for Apple to share 30 percent of any revenue from iCloud’s music service with record labels, as well as 12 percent with music publishers holding the songwriting rights. Apple is expected to keep the remaining 58 percent, said people knowledgeable with the terms.” — LA Times
Cost to users and accessibility
Well, this isn’t confirmed, but word is that Apple is planning not to charge a monthy fee for the service, instead there will be a $25/year charge for the service, with a free trial period for those who purchase music through iTunes. Apple apperently is also planning to bring videos (TV shows, movies and music videos) to the iCloud service either at launch, or in the near future.
In terms of accessibility, you’ll be able to access iCloud from a web browser on any computer and iOS mobile devices. There doesn’t seem to be any information about software, and that could mean that this is a strictly web-based service. Theres also rumor that Apple wants to make certain parts of iCloud free to OS X Lion users.
