The Beggars Group, one of the largest independent group labels in Europe has published their thoughts on its official blog. The group says that have not come to an agreement with the new service. The group is concerned about artists losing remuneration during the three-month period and doesn’t see any reason for artists to be impacted by “Apple’s customer acquisition costs”.

According to a report published by The Telegraph, chairman of industry lobby group UK Music, Andy Heath told the publication that no independent British label has agreed to allow Apple Music to stream their music during the free trial.

The labels fear loss of revenue from competing services like Spotify as users try out Apple’s new service. Even though Apple will be paying higher revenue share than the industry standard it hasn’t worked out as a compelling factor for record labels who work on tight margins to offer free music during the trial.

It’s not just record labels and independent artists who’ve shared mixed reactions to Apple Music. Taylor Swift’s album 1989 will not be available for streaming on Apple Music just like Spotify. However, Taylor Swift’s other albums released in the past will be available for streaming.

Apple is still negotiating terms with record labels and independent artists. The new service aims to allow users to discover new music, get curated playlists created by humans and connect with their favourite artists.

Apple helped save the music industry from the issue of music piracy by introducing iTunes. Now, the company is on a mission to catch-on the next big trend in the music industry – streaming.

It will be interesting to see if Apple is able to crack deals with these record labels and artists before the official launch of Apple Music on June 30.

On Thursday, CNET reported that Apple is reportedly very close to completing a deal with both Warner Music and Universal Music Group for its rumored iRadio service. Earlier this week, reports suggested that Apple was looking to launch the service as early as this summer, and with new reports of the companies finalizing deals, it appears that the previous rumors may be correct.

With its iRadio service, Apple will reportedly be using a different revenue stream and adding features not seen in other streaming music services such as Spotify and Pandora. Initial reports suggested that negotiations slowed because of Apple’s offering of low royalty which have likely been resolved since then. It is unclear, however, if the record labels settled for a lower rate or if Apple offered a higher rate.

That includes a quick way for consumers to buy a song they hear, potentially boosting download sales from iTunes, as well as a revenue share of new audio ads Apple is planning to add to the free service, according to sources.

The product would be tied to iTunes, and available on mobile devices.

The service, according to sources, most closely resembles Pandora because it doesn’t offer on-demand listening. Apple is building some unique features, such as the ability to jump back to the beginning of a song, according to one person briefed on the company’s plans.

It is possible that Apple would launch the new service at the company’s WWDC conference during the summer. Warner Music and Universal Music Group will be enough for the company to launch the service, however, they will also need to strike a deal with Sony Music Group to get the full library of songs. It is possible for the deals to fall through, with content and royalty rate negotiations still continuing, but with all of these reports, it is all but confirmed that Apple will be launching a streaming music service later this year.

{Via MacRumors}

Rumors about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) launching a music streaming service, similar to Pandora have been around for several months now. However, these reports have become more solid in recent weeks, as more sources begin to back claims that the service may be arriving as early as this summer. According to a report from The Verge, negotiations between AAPL and record companies are moving forward, allowing for the company to begin shaping its new ‘iRadio’ music service.

Much has been written about Apple’s plan to launch a Pandora-esque service this year. Now multiple music industry insiders have told The Verge that significant progress has been made in the talks with two of the top labels: Universal and Warner. One of the sources said “iRadio is coming. There’s no doubt about it anymore.” Apple is pushing hard for a summertime launch.

Earlier in March, Apple was reportedly trying to compete with other services by offering half the royalty rate paid by Pandora. While Apple would normally control all aspects of the service, in this case, they need the record companies to allow them to use music.

If it weren’t for the record companies, Apple could have possibly launched the service much earlier, perhaps even at the end of last year. The two record companies that are reportedly making the most progress with negotiations are Warner and Universal. Apple is expected to launch new iPhone 5S / 6 this summer, so it is possible that both will launch in the same event, especially if the iPhone 5S refresh is incremental and not a major redesign.

{Via MacRumors}

Pandora, the popular music recommendation service, may soon have a competing service from Apple Inc. (AAPL) new report claims. On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that AAPL is looking to introduce its own music streaming service, similar to Pandora, adding on to the iTunes structure in both OS X and iOS.

WSJ claims that “people familiar with the matter” suggest that the service would be integrated into Macs, the iPhone and the iPad and perhaps Windows PCs. This would give Apple continuing dominance in the music distribution industry and would help boost iTunes music sales.

Apple only recently initiated licensing negotiations with record labels for its putative service, and even if it does complete deals, it could be a matter of months when such a service might launch, according to these people.

The company has in the past contemplated and abandoned other interactive features, including a Spotify-like service that would have let users rent unlimited amounts of music for a fixed monthly fee. But people familiar with the current talks say they appear to be more serious than those previous tentative inquiries.

As on Pandora, the music would be interspersed with ads, in this case carried by Apple’s iAd platform, which syndicates ads to iPhone and iPad apps.

As with all of Apple’s deals with record labels and movie studios, the Cupertino company would be negotiating all licensing deals with the record labels. According to the report, Apple is still negotiating and likely won’t be unveiling the new service at the iPhone 5 media media event. Following WSJs report on the music service, the NYTimes also published its own report suggesting that there is, in fact, a music service for Apple in the works.

Apple’s service would likely take the form of a pre-installed app on Apple’s devices like iPhones and iPads and might be able to connect to a user’s iTunes account to judge his or her tastes.

A music service tailored specifically to iOS users, and one capable of obtaining a user’s preferences from their music libraries could potentially affect Pandora’s influence in the music market. With a music service, two powerful OS’ and the millions of iOS and Mac products out on the market, this could turn out to be a huge success for Apple.

{via MacRumors, Image Credit: CallingAllGeeks.org}

Music streaming service, Spotify, gained popularity in Europe before debuting in the United States last July, allowing users to stream music from major music labels on their Macs, PC’s, and portable devices. Spotify is one of the first streaming services to combine users music libraries, as well as online streaming and allow them to sync their devices.

Today we’re extremely proud to present our native iPad app in all its green-hued glory. Features include:

– Retina graphics for iPad – dazzling display, razor sharp images, richer colors
– Even easier to browse and explore Spotify’s entire 18 million* song catalogue
– New ‘Now Playing’ full-screen view with high-definition cover art
– Search for playlists, users and music – all from the same view
– Check out what’s hot and find trending playlists & songs amongst your friends
– Inbox grouped by user for easy searching
– Gapless playback and crossfade
– AirPlay integration

Spotify has long been available on the iPhone since its release, operating on a pricing model, as opposed to the free model on the desktop computer. On Tuesday, Spotify announced that their new iPad application is now available in the App Store, utilizing the iPad’s 9.7 inch screen. The app is available via an upgrade to the existing app, which will be downloadable as both an iPad and iPhone app.

Spotify Premium is currently offering a free 48-hour trial for new users , allowing them to extend for up to 30 days if they sign up on the website. Premium users who use the service on the iPad, iPhone, and other mobile devices are the option to sign up for a subscription for $9.99 per month.

{via MacRumors}

It is very clear that Apple is closely watching Google’s moves in the music market place. And is making tentative moves to consolidate its position as the worlds digital content leader. But it is clear that Apple is eyeing an expansion of all of its own data services for its products and their users, they are not in a rush.

All of these services, be they related to financial transactions via your iPhone, more synergy and connectivity between iDevices, more music or more movies, all require something that is not ready yet. Apple’s huge server facility in the US, which is not online until 2011.

Apple realises that Google has a long way to go yet, before it can pull off a music service to rival iTunes. Or really bring a cohesive movie viewing / downloading service to your living room. And because of this Apple are taking their time to line up the right services for music, movies and TV. As well as watching to see which way Google ultimately goes, and probably flounders.

According to several sources, the work done at Lala shortly after Apple took it over was more in the direction of video than audio. And Apple has not made any major moves to obtain rights for a more flexible license for music or movie ownership, yet. But movie execs. have been speaking of a set of “digital shelves” that consumers can purchase content for. The idea being that they own the rights to view the content for life, and not a physical DVD. Rather like iPhone apps, Steam Games, or eBooks, which you move from device to device, but always keep the rights to use.

Needless to say the legal side of this will all take more time to work out than either the construction of Apple’s server farm, or for “The Hobbit” to be made into a movie.

So if Apple get an Apple TV to us this year (something I doubt), or roll out any kind of music service, expect it to be limited at first. But perhaps growing through the second half of 2011.

Does Apple’s rumoured plan sound appealing to you? Let us know your view in the comments…