Is Apple Creating A Pandora Killer? Rumor Points To Record Label Talks

Pandora might soon have some not so welcomed competition in the music radio streaming field courtesy of Apple, Inc. A report in the Wall Street Journal points to Apple talks with record labels regarding a “Pandora-like” product.

According to sources the program will be available on Apple’s major platforms, specifically iOS and Mac OS X support hardware, which basically means all Apple created systems both mobile and PC in nature.

The service will be fully ad-supported which could help Apple secure more deals for its iAd platform. Sources say Apple executives first looked at a Spotify type system with monthly subscription payments but instead decided to focus on an ad delivery option.

Negotiations with record labels are still in the early stages, however given Apple’s already existing iTunes relationships the company’s efforts could move forward quickly. In any case the Apple supported music streaming service is not expected to arrive for at least several months.

The move to form a music streaming service should not come as a surprise as Apple continues to push its user base towards cloud based products.

With the iPhone 5 expected to be announced next week we probably won’t hear much about any sort of iMusic platform in the next week or so.

Sorry Google Android users the new service will likely remain exclusively available for Apple customers.

Would you listen to an ad supported Apple based music streaming service or is Pandora your streaming music provider of choice?