Music to Our Ears

Apple iRadio Comes Closer to Reality

Company strikes licensing deal with Sony.

The long-rumored, long-anticipated streaming music service from Apple is looking less like a rumor and more like a reality. The Cupertino company reportedly struck a licensing deal with Sony Music, the last holdout of the three major record labels it needed to get in bed with in order to make iRadio a reality. Apple’s radio service is expected to be a fierce competitor to Spotify and Pandora, though not much is known about how it will work or what the interface will look like. The exact details of the licensing agreements it struck with record labels are also still unknown. Industry insiders speculate that it will announce the service at the Worldwide Developers Conference.