Apple is in talks with four major record labels to allow customers unlimited downloads of songs they buy on iTunes, according to a Bloomberg report.
The company is in discussions with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group Corp. and EMI to give iTunes customers the ability to link their purchases to their iPads, iPods and iPhones to the same iTunes account, and to permanently back up their purchases.
The service would launch this summer, unnamed sources told Bloomberg.
Apple’s iTunes is the world’s largest music retailer, and claims “69 percent of all digital downloads in the U.S.,” but does not currently allow unlimited downloads of purchased music.
As Techland points out, Apple’s current terms of service say limit customers’ ability to transfer songs to multiple devices.
"Products may be downloaded only once and cannot be replaced if lost for any reason. Once a Product is downloaded, it is your responsibility not to lose, destroy, or damage it, and Apple shall not be liable to you if you do so."
Hypebot says that while the record the labels “have been reluctant to grant multiple download rights previously,” Apple's “relatively closed eco-system could offer them a level of comfort.”
For Apple, the move could make its stranglehold on the downloaded music market even tighter.
“If Apple extends this re-downloading feature to iTunes-purchased tracks but doesn't let you upload tracks you've purchased elsewhere to its servers,” Techland notes, “people may ultimately decide that it's just easier to buy music solely from iTunes.”
