iLounge

By Charles Starrett

Senior Editor, iLounge
Published: Thursday, June 2, 2011
News Category: Mix

Apple has signed Universal Music Group to a cloud music licensing agreement, giving it deals with all four of the major record labels, according to a new report. Citing sources with knowledge of the talks, Cnet reports that Apple has also reached agreements with some of the large music publishers. While Apple is expected to announce the service during its WWDC keynote address on Monday, the streaming service will not be made immediately available, the report notes, but will be offered “soon.”

Continuing its preparations for its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) that kicks off Monday, Apple has posted banners inside Moscone West depicting the icon it will use for its iCloud service. The icon, which appears on a banner proclaiming that Mac OS X Lion + iOS 5 + iCloud = WWDC and was captured by AppleInsider, appears to be highly similar to the existing “cloud” element of its MobileMe logo.

Apple retail stores are receiving new Visual Merchandising packages with instructions not to open the materials until Tuesday, 9 to 5 Mac reports. What exact service or product the materials are for is unknown, but they are likely tied to some announcement or announcements to be made during the company’s keynote address on Monday.

The Beatles’ three Anthology albums are set to make their exclusive digital debut on the iTunes Store June 14. All three volumes are currently available for pre-order in most areas as iTunes LP offerings, being sold for $30 a piece, or in a digital set for $80; an Anthology Highlights collection of 23 tracks is also being offered for $13. All three Anthology albums have been digitally remastered; individual tracks will be priced at $1.29 each. [via MDN]