Apple is in negotiations with major record companies to give iTunes customers greater flexibility in the way they listen to the music they buy, according to a Bloomberg report.
The report claimed that iTunes customers would have a permanent back-up of their music purchases, because they could re-download tracks which became damaged or lost, if the negotiations are successful.
The new service would also allow multiple downloads to different devices linked to the same iTunes account, meaning users could download the same tracks to their computer, iPhone, and iPad at no additional cost. Currently the only way to transfer tracks between devices is to sync the iPhone, iPad, or iPod with iTunes on a Mac or PC.
All four major record companies, Universal, Sony, Warner Music, and EMI, were named as participants in the negotiations.
Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was working on a new online music service which it said would ‘give users access to their iTunes libraries from, say, an iPhone or iPad, instead of requiring that the devices be synced by cable with a computer and use space to store the actual files.’
