Digital

Apple quietly launches music locker service

By | Published on Thursday 5 August 2010

Apple has launched a new online music storage and streaming service. Well, sort of. The latest version of the iPhone app for Apple’s online backup system iDisk changes the way users can stream music from the software (a feature active since its launch, though only one track at a time), using iPhone OS 4.0’s multi-tasking capability to allow music to be played in the background while using other features of the iPhone. It also enables public sharing for music files, too.

Michael Robertson, boss of MP3tunes and original MP3.com founder, says in a new blog post this week: “What this means is that for any music files such as MP3 or Apple’s AAC files stored in your iDisk account you can play them on your devices while you use your device for other operations. This makes streaming practical from Apple’s online storage. This new release brings this capability to iPhone, iTouch and iPad. You can stream music to multiple devices simultaneously”.

This throws up a big issue. Although the new iDisk update doesn’t bring a cloud-based version of iTunes to Apple’s mobile devices (files can only be uploaded individually and other features like playlists and artwork are not available), the major labels, in particular Universal, insist that all streaming services require a licence to do so. That would include iDisk, and Apple has no such licence for it.

Robertson wrote: “[Universal has] told net companies who have inquired about offering personal cloud music services that backing up and downloading music files is OK with limitations, but streaming music files requires entering into a license and paying a per stream fee. Apple’s service allows unlimited sharing (no username or password required) and now background streaming – all without a license from the record labels”.

It’s possible that this is the first step towards the launch of Apple’s much rumoured streaming service. However, Robertson speculates that more than that, this is Apple seeing what it can get away with. Robertson writes: “Behind the scenes Apple is battling the record labels over licensing issues related to their future cloud based iTunes music service. Their recent actions are defying UMG’s position that any streaming service requires a license. Apple’s actions are testing the limits about what they can do without record labels protesting. If they can store files online and stream them to PCs and portable devices without a license that is the foundation for a cloud based iTunes service”.

The outcome of this is of particular interest to Robertson, of course. He has long been an advocate of ‘digital lockers’ for music storage and playback, launching a new version of the MP3tunes cloud storage and streaming service last month, which added the ability to sync to multiple mobile devices. First set up in 2005, MP3tunes has been pursued in litigation by EMI since 2007. Last year a judge ruled that the major label could sue Robertson direct over what it claims is his copyright infringing service.



READ MORE ABOUT: |