Apple Finally Signs Universal Music, iCloud Streaming Available "Soon"

umg1

CNet reports that Apple has signed the last of the four major record labels to its iCloud service which will be officially announced next week.

The agreement means that Apple now has the rights to offer recording rights from all of the major labels. In addition, Apple has reached agreements with some of the large publishers, the sources said.

This represents the final step before Apple is able to launch its iCloud service which is believed to offer music streaming to iOS and Mac users. Apple has already announced that they will be detailing iCloud at next week's WWDC keynote which takes place on Monday, June 6th.

CNet reports that labels will get 58%, publishers 12%, while Apple retains 30%. They also add that streaming won't be available on Monday but will be offered "soon". And at first, Apple will only store music in iCloud that was purchased in iTunes, but Apple is looking to include songs outside iTunes "sometime in the future".

Tag: CNET

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...
terminal macos tahoe

Apple's Terminal App Gets Colorful Redesign in macOS Tahoe

Monday June 16, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's Terminal app is getting a visual refresh in macOS Tahoe, and it's the first notable design update since the command-line tool debuted. The updated Terminal will support 24-bit color and Powerline fonts, according to Apple's State of the Platforms presentation at WWDC25. The app will also adopt the new Liquid Glass aesthetic with redesigned themes that align with macOS 26's broader...

Top Rated Comments

jared52 Avatar
183 months ago
Wow, so then 95% of my collection won't be in the iCloud? Don't think I'll be paying for that.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Centient Avatar
183 months ago
And at first, Apple will only store music in iCloud that was purchased in iTunes, but Apple is looking to include songs outside iTunes "sometime in the future".

Well Apple can let me know when that sometime in the future rolls around. Until then almost all interest in this service has just streamed out of me.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cougarcat Avatar
183 months ago
Pretty specific taste if 95% of your music is not available on iTunes.

Who would rebuy music just to use it on iCloud? :rolleyes:
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OllyW Avatar
183 months ago
Pretty specific taste if 95% of your music is not available on iTunes.
I read it as he has only purchased 5% of his music from iTunes so he won't be allowed to access the other 95% from iCloud.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dwd3885 Avatar
183 months ago
Good start, but Amazon has everything you purchase stored in addition to whatever you already have. Apple's service is substandard if true.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
314631 Avatar
183 months ago
I can't see the recording industry ever allowing Apple to store music acquired outside of iTunes. So the service will be pretty useless to me. Most of my music is purchased through Amazon these days and that isn't going to change no matter how cool Apple's service turns out to be.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)