Apple’s “iRadio” reportedly close to launch, yet labels still have to sign

The "iRadio" rumor is back, and there are new details on how Apple hopes to generate more revenue for music studios than competing services. According to sources who spoke to CNET, Apple's rumored streaming service would offer users a quick way to buy songs through iTunes, "potentially boosting download sales," in addition to offering a revenue share on audio ads.

CNET's report claims that Apple is close to striking a deal with two of the four major music labels, Warner Music and Universal Music Group. That suggests EMI and Sony Music are apparently not close to a deal with Apple, despite the fact that the company has supposedly informed the labels that it wants to have an agreement hammered out in time for a summer launch. The report notes that Apple would also need to get the music publishers on board before launching its Pandora-like streaming service.

The element that appears to be holding back the labels is Apple's decision to weigh its payment structure on ad revenue instead of the more traditional per-play rate. "The only thing concrete in the contract is the per-play rate," one unnamed source told CNET. "If you end up having no ad revenue, that's still zero. And we won't know what the buying habits will be. Will people streaming still take the time to buy from iTunes?"

The complaint echoes one in a New York Post report from last month, which claimed Apple wanted to pay half the per-song royalty rate that Pandora offers (6 cents per 100 songs, as opposed to Pandora's 12 cents).

Because it will be ad-supported, the service will reportedly be free to users and available via iTunes on the desktop, Apple TV, and iOS devices. There's nothing that says Apple can't or won't offer a paid level of service, though, which may sweeten the deal for hesitant music labels.

Considering the ongoing nature of this rumor (it has been dragging on for at least six years now), there's absolutely no guarantee that Apple will wrap up its contracts by summer and actually launch "iRadio" this year. It's clear that Apple has been working on wooing the labels for quite some time, though, and has even gone so far as to add hidden radio buttons to parts of iOS. The latter indicates that Apple is indeed confident that a launch could happen soon, but we'll believe it when we finally see it.