Imagine storing every song you ever owned your whole life in one simple storage locker. Well, get ready for iTunes streaming music in the clouds!
Within the past several years, Apple purchased the popular music streaming service LaLa, then built a humongous secret server plant in North Carolina, which we now know will serve as somewhat of a music “locker.” Apple also recently purchased the domain name “iCloud.com” for a reported $4.5 million, which would allow web access to your music via any browser. The maker of all things “i” is expected to announce later this year that its new music model will be to emulate LaLa by storing user songs at the North Carolina server site for users to stream to a multitude of Apple devices.
The days of downloading a song to your computer, then having to transfer it to your iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, etc. are soon to be over. And the days of having to pick and choose which of the thousands of songs you own should go on your space-limited devices are numbered too. Apple wants to make your music available to you anytime, anywhere and on any Apple device. It doesn’t even have to be yours!
In fact, Apple has reportedly already lined up contracts with Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony, and EMI to allow the licensing rights sooner than we think. And with music libraries growing larger and storage space on devices becoming crowded, wouldn’t it be great to have access to your entire music catalog wherever you are?
Interestingly, Google got wind of Apple’s plans and created its own music streaming service in the hopes of beating Apple to the finish line before they’ve even left the gate. Who ends up winning the “music in the clouds” war will be interesting to see.
There’s no word yet if Apple will allow users to upload their entire music libraries, or only stream content purchased through the iTunes Music Store. And it appears the streaming service will initially be free, but cost a subscription fee later. Still, it’s an innovative solution for the future to our ever growing music libraries.
