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“After Apple acquired Lala.com last December, the thinking among some music insiders was that Lala’s streaming-music technology could easily be plugged into iTunes–once Apple obtained the proper music licenses,” Sandoval reports. “Lala.com, a music service launched in 2006 and shut down by Apple last May, possessed technology that scanned hard drives for existing music libraries and then enabled users to play back the same songs from Lala’s servers via Web-connected devices.”
“But eight months after the acquisition, Apple is telling executives at the four top labels that if Apple offers any cloud-music features within the next few months, they will likely be ‘modest in scope’ and not include the kind of functionality that Apple outlined in meetings with the labels, such as storing users’ music on its servers, sources told CNET,” Sandoval reports. “They added that Apple still hasn’t negotiated the kind of licensing deals it would need to distribute music from the cloud.”
Sandoval reports, “Delays launching a cloud music service might disappoint some iTunes users, but if Apple is focusing resources on a cloud-video service it could be welcomed by those who have maxed out hard drives with films and TV shows. Sources at the major film studios have said this year that Apple plans to create ‘digital shelves’ that enable iTunes users to store movies and other media on Apple’s servers. Another potential puzzle piece that appears to be falling into place is the server farm Apple is building in North Carolina. Apple executives said last month following their most recent earnings report that the facility, which some have begun calling ‘the Orchard,’ is on schedule to be completed by the end of the year.”
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