Apple iTunes Radio Release Date, features and News 2013

With iTunes Radio Launch at WWDC 2013, Apple's foray into the music streaming arena has been a long time coming this week, finally.

But with the iOS 7 Release Date scheduled in the US in fall 2013 and the rest of the world soon after, will it be too little too late for the tech Apple to take on the already established Spotify, Pandora and Rdio?

Apple is lagging well behind the competition in the music streaming arena. It's been five years since Spotify took streaming although Apple's managed to retire Ping and bust out iTunes Match in that time, it hasn't really made it into streaming.

That's despite rumors of the service circling for at least a year - the reasons for the hold up are supposedly down to rights holders trying to hardball for a better deal, rather than any technological issues.

iRadio and iTunes Radio the name of Apple Music Streaming

Apple rejected the name 'iRadio' that had been bandied about by the internet for so many months before the WWDC 2013 unveil.

There were so many reasons why Apple should have shunned the name iRadio. For starters, it's ugly and inelegant and those are two qualities Apple does not go for.

Secondly, multiple trademarks already exist on the name iRadio - there's a music service in Ireland, for example, and an old four-star Wi-Fi radio bearing the name.

Thirdly, the word 'radio' smacks of old tech - and with Apple reportedly ditching skeumorphism in its iOS 7 update, we thought it might do away with such out-dated premises in its music streaming service - obviously a swing and a miss on that one.

Finally, iRadio is a name that the media collectively coined for ease of referring to whatever it is Apple has up its sleeve - and we know from the 'new iPad' debacle that Apple won't be led by the media when it comes to naming conventions.

iTunes Radio Release Date 2013

The iTunes Radio release date in US is later this year. Although Apple has exposed the service to developers at WWDC 2013, it won't launch to consumers until 'fall', probably October-November 2013, which is when we shall also see new iOS 7, iPhone 5S/ iPhone 6, iPod Touch 6G, iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2.

iTunes Radio Rumors and Features 2013

What did we see in our technological crystal ball ahead of the iTunes Radio reveal? Check out the rumors below:

• Apple iTunes Radio free iAd and paid iTunes Match versions

  Just as an advertising trade mag reported, Apple is looking to use its iAds platform to deliver targeted audio ads to non-premium iTunes iRadio users.
  
  All iTunes users will be able to access iTunes iRadio for free but if you want to ditch the ads, then you'll have to subscribe to iTunes Match.
  
  

• iTunes Radio, Spotify and Pandora

  Genius, which runs in the background of your iTunes account working out what you're into so it can offer relevant recommendations, is what could set iRadio apart from Spotify and Pandora, which rely far more heavily on social integration and third-party apps to help you find new music to stream and (hopefully, eventually) buy.
  
  

• iTunes Radio Release Date in US only

  The fall iTunes Radio Release Date, only applies to those in the US. The rest of the world is still awaiting a vague release date which will follow the iTunes Radio Release Date in USA.
  
  

• iTunes Radio Music labels: Sony, Universal and Warner

  There are a lot of Apple iTunes Radio rumors . But several separate sources have claimed that the big three record labels - Sony, Universal and Warner - have all signed on to Apple's upcoming streaming service.
  
  After literally years of negotiations (depending on who you believe), Universal was supposedly the first to crack, with Warner not far behind. Sony was a tougher nut to crack. However, perhaps mindful of its own streaming ambitions, but got on board at the eleventh hour.
  
  Details of the deals are pretty much non-existent at this point, although an aging rumor suggests that Apple is looking to pay out more to rights holders than its major US rival Pandora.
  
  

• iTunes Radio Buy Music

  You can buy music through new iTunes Radio. Apple's streaming product ties in with iTunes, giving users a direct way to buy songs they've streamed. The 'buy' button prevails on all songs played through iTunes Radio.
  
  One patent points to the possibility that you'll even be able to load up credit and buy cached songs without even having an internet connection - no official word on that from Apple yet, though.
  
  

• iTunes Radio Video

  Lets take a look at what Apple iTunes Radio streaming service is going to offer: