Apple New Cloud to Be Storage, On Subscription

Seems like Apple’s cloud is motioning to be used for stateless storage rather than a streaming subscription service. According to the Financial Times, the folks in Cupertino have “clarifed” its intent for the use of storing music files in the Cloud. Reportedly, Apple is planning to use the Cloud as a means to back up user’s music collections and sync music to Apple devices rather than a music streaming service.

Apple, which rocked digital music services such as Pandora, Rdio and MOG last week by announcing plans to keep 30 per cent of all revenues from subscriptions taken out through its App Store, has clarified its plans for using remote storage, known as the cloud, according to several music industry executives.

More than a year after buying Lala, a cloud-based digital music service, Apple is now looking to use the cloud mainly to allow users of its iTunes store to back up their collections and access them from any Apple device.

One person with knowledge of Apple’s plans said the company did not want to undermine the market that it dominates for paid downloads, likening its plans for the cloud to “insurance”.

The article doesn’t exactly go into depth on what “access” means. Experts on the matter state that Apple is planning to allow users to store music files and other media and content to the Cloud and stream to Internet-connected Apple devices on-demand. This, in turn, eliminates the need for tethering devices to add new content and preserves local storage space. Additionally, it also serves as a back up means as users don’t have to use the re-download or re-sync method to gain content back on a new or restored device.

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