In a move that could shake up the growing field of Internet radio, Apple plans to develop a service that would compete with Pandora Media by sending streams of music customized to users’ tastes, three people briefed on the plans said late Thursday.
Apple, which has dominated the field of digital music with its iTunes store, is in the early stages of negotiating with the major record labels for the service, according to these people, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private.
Apple’s service would probably take the form of a pre-installed app on devices such as iPhones and iPads and might be able to connect to users’ iTunes accounts to judge their tastes. By offering streams customized to each user, Apple’s program would compete with Internet radio services such as Pandora, Slacker and iHeartRadio.
Apple is seeking direct licenses with record labels that would give the company more flexibility than other services, according to the people briefed on its plans. The New York Times
