Apple had hoped to deliver a new Apple music streaming service to iPhone 5 customers but was forced to delay its “Pandora killer” after streaming rights talks stalled with Sony/ATV. The argument according to the NYPost stemmed directly from per-song rights fees.
According to reports while the cost to stream a song is usually in the tenths of a penny Sony allegedly wanted to earn more from an Apple based product.
While some companies have negotiated with copyright associations such as ASCAP and BMI in the past, Apple is believed to only be working with individual rights holders because the company wants to expand its product offering in the future. Apple’s move to deal directly with individual rights holders could be a smart decision, another rumor says Sony will pull out of ASCAP and BMI in January which will make it harder for company’s such as Pandora and Spotify to gain access to the music they need to successfully operate.
The rumor also states that Apple is still missing recorded music rights from labels. If successful in its bid to launch a music streaming service Apple plans to showcase a “more human element” to finding music, rather than solely focusing on whatever music labels are trying to promote at the moment.
According to the NYPost Apple is hoping to obtain more flexible licenses so it can play artists more times than services like Pandora. Apple also wants to point listeners to the iTunes market to purchase songs they enjoy.
One source claims that Apple rushed into production and simply didn’t estimate exactly how long it would take to form partnerships and build its product.