• CNET, Friday, June 3, 2011 12:22 PM

Fending off mounting competition from Google, Amazon, and other would-be music streamers, Apple has reportedly struck a licensing deal with Universal Music Group.  "The agreement means Apple now has the rights to offer recordings from all of the major labels," sources tell CNet. "In addition, Apple has reached agreements with some of the large music publishers."

In addition, The New York Times is reporting that half of the four major music publishers have made deals on iCloud. "The agreements will allow Apple to unveil the service at its five-day Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, which begins Monday," according to The times. For the music labels' participation -- something neither Google nor Amazon have yet to secure -- Apple has reportedly agreed to pay upwards of $150 million in advanced payments.

"The tech giant has agreed to pay the labels between $25 million to $50 million each, as an incentive to get on board, depending on how many tracks consumers are storing," according to The New York Post, citing sources. No small matter, Fast Company calls Apple's iCloud initiative "key to defining how Apple evolves into providing content as a service as well as being a code maker, hardware manufacturer, and front-end store for apps and video content."

On Monday, when Apple is expected to unveil iCloud, "The industry will be watching, because how Apple maneuvers in the cloud market will set the scene for everyone else--particularly Amazon and Google, who've both launched their own cloud services offers already," Fast Company adds.

What's more, "While we don't know how far the scope of the iCloud product will extend, Apple's implication ... is that it extends beyond just music," The Next Web writes. "The revenue sharing agreement, however, indicates that the majority of the money involved is being spent on music."

Read the whole story at CNET »