The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is “in talks” to obtain licenses for what amounts to a Pandora-like streaming music service. All Things Digital says it’s true, or as ATD’s Peter Kafka puts it, “Industry sources I’ve talked to say that’s correct.”
I’m sympathetic to this reader comment on the WSJ piece:
“Oh great. Watch Apple’s inflated ego turn a great service into a proprietary application open only to appleheads who renounce God and proclaim their faith in rounded corners.”
All snark aside, the question is whether Apple could obtain better license deals than the ones that Pandora gets, which gobble a considable portion of the latter company’s revenue. Doubtless the answer is yes. The next question is why yes would be worth the effort for Tim Cook. Is this about money or empire building?
