Speculation on Apple’s Rumoured Streaming Service ⇥ nytimes.com

The New York Times is reporting that Apple is getting close to inking deals with major music labels in order to offer some kind of streaming service:

After months of stalled negotiations over its planned Internet radio service, Apple is pushing to complete licensing deals with music companies so it can reveal the service as early as next week, according to people briefed on the talks.

Apple’s service, a Pandora-like feature that would tailor streams of music to each user’s taste, has been planned since at least last summer.

Is it just me, or does this sound like a supercharged Genius playlist? In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they used that branding to essentially blend music you own with the entire iTunes Store’s library.

Some people, like Federico Viticci, seem more interested in Apple’s take on Spotify, not a Pandora-esque service. But I think that this kind of service goes beyond that. I think — or, at least, I hope — it’s a hybrid of on-demand streaming, radio, and a local library. That kind of blend seems murkier for nerdy types, but clearer for most everyone else: it’s music. End of story.