Apple’s iCloud
Posted in Apple Geekery, Music Tech on January 21st, 2010 by RyanA bunch of sources point to Apple releasing a cloud-based music service in conjunction with their established iTunes store. Not only would you get the streaming tracks, but you’d also get the ability to back up your music library to “the cloud” and listen from Internet-enabled devices.
This has been tried already, of course, by mp3.com. The results were brutal lawsuits and a shutdown of the “music locker” service. But times have changed, different companies have felt financial downturns that make this seem like a better option, and now the possibility is there to make it happen. Like Spotify and MOG have already made it happen. Although not as well as they could have – Spotify is Europe-only at this point, and I personally let my subscription to MOG lapse because I was a little frustrated by incomplete listing of albums (although the overall selection was pretty good).
So it’s not like Apple is breaking any ground here. It’s just that the ground has shifted under the music industry and the technology has finally caught up. If they’re going to back up my entire library and make it available to me, wonderful. How much is it going to cost, and what will you do with the tracks I ripped from CD? Otherwise, there’s Simplify. The task here isn’t breaking new ground – it’s making what’s available work easily.
I do like what’s available for indie artists now, though. Tunecore + iTunes streaming = trackable plays and maybe some royalties out of the whole thing. Very streamlined and effective. I wonder what the cut will be?
