Apple reportedly securing deals ahead of the launch of iRadio

No, the iRadio rumours aren’t over yet. There have been whispers about Apple’s supposed venture into the internet radio space for a while now, but it seems the company is making progress ahead of an expected announcement at its WWDC developers’ conference next week.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple signed a deal with Warner Music over the weekend to use the group’s music in its streaming service. The terms of the deal see Warner receive 10% of ad revenue, higher than the percentage given to labels by competing services like Pandora. The company is also reportedly still in negotiations with Universal Music and Sony Entertainment, and the delays may see a postponed launch date if an agreement can’t be reached.

While Apple’s iTunes accounts for the lion’s share of digital music sales internationally, its reliance on pay-to-own music has been questioned as streaming music services like Pandora, Spotify and Deezer have gained in popularity. Even Google got in on the game recently, launching Google Play Music: All Access at its I/O conference in mid May. Apple would be a late entrant into to the market, but its bargaining power and existing iTunes user base could help its streaming radio offering grow quickly.

The service — nicknamed iRadio — is rumoured to generate income for Apple through advertising, and would be incorporated into its existing iAd service, which allows developers to show ads inside their apps. According to the New York Times, it would be free for consumers, but the music groups want higher rates in exchange for permission to use their songs. The fees charged by the labels have made generating serious income difficult for services like Pandora and Spotify, which spend the majority of their revenue on paying for the music they often provide for free to millions of users.