Bloomberg is reporting that Apple is chatting up record companies to provide unlimited repeat downloads of songs for iTunes users. In theory, Apple device owners would be able to purchase any song and re-download it again to any Apple device, any time, anywhere, free of charge, just like with apps.
Citing the growing popularity of music streaming services such as Pandora and a need for a "permanent backup of music purchases if the originals are damaged or lost," the two Bloomberg reporters, Adam Satariano and Andy Fixmer believe that Apple will move to protect its digital music interests with a plan that would give iTunes users more flexibility in accessing their legally purchased music.
Recent rumors have been flying around suggesting that Apple's new data center in North Carolina could play home to storing music in cloud. The Bloomberg report says that if the talks between Apple and the record companies go through, we could see an announcement by mid-year.
Like Steve Jobs said (albeit in a manner a little overly poetic) at the March 2 iPad 2 unveil event, "It's in Apple's DNA that technology alone is not enough. It's technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our heart sing."
