Bloomberg News is reporting that Apple has reached an agreement with three major record labels to let people who use their new music service access their songs from handheld devices via the Internet. It's quoting people "with knowledge of the deals."
The news has implications for North Carolina. The data and networking demands of such usage will be accomodated at the $1 billion data center Apple has built in western North Carolina.
At the company's annual shareholder meeting earlier this year, executives said the Maiden facility would be a hub for its iTunes and MobileMe services. The 184,000 facility is expected to open any day now.
Apple selected the site site in 2009 and was expected to open it last year. The entire facility encompasses about 500,000 square feet, and will also support Apple's corporate systems.
Earlier this week, CNET reported that Apple had signed a licensing agreement with EMI Music and that it already had a deal with Warner Music. That just left Sony Music and Universal Music to succumb to Apple's considerable, uh, charms.
The deals basically mean this: If you buy music from iTunes, Apple's online store, you can store it on Apple's servers and then access it online rather than downloading each song onto your computer, iPod or tablet.
Mary Cornatzer has worked at The News & Observer for more than 25 years, covering the local music industry, state movie industry and travel. She has been the paper's Business editor since 2000. Contact Mary at 919-829-4755 or