Apple still hasn’t finalised its deals with record labels

The tech giant’s Worldwide Developers Conference is days away (June 8 – 12), and while reports of it unveiling a raft of new features on the iOS 8.4 are circulating, there’s still no definite sign its Music app will include streaming.

According to Bloomberg, Apple and the record labels haven’t reached a deal yet. Apparently, labels are pushing for more revenue than they receive from its competitors.

Spotify’s deal with labels for its $9.99 per month rate sees publishers take 15% and labels take 55% (Mac Rumours); the label sector is pushing for 60% with Apple.

Whether ink has been put to paper before the WWDC keynote address on June 8 or not, Apple is still likely to unveil its reason for acquiring Beats Electronics for US$3 billion last year: its Beats-powered streaming service, Apple Music.

Apple Music will use Beats' technology, look, and curated playlists. Users will be able to search through both the Beats and iTunes catalogues at the same time, and select whether they want to buy a track from iTunes or stream it. Users can port over existing Beats Music libraries stored in the cloud. But it’s not known how much of these tools will be restricted to premium subscribers only.

Apple is also picked to unveil the method behind its deals with three BBC Radio 1 DJs, including Zane Lowe, who left his post in the UK to move to Silicon Valley, Trent Reznor and big name artists including Drake, Pharrell Williams, Q-Tip and David Guetta. It’s believed the aforementioned will play a role in the reboot of iTunes Radio.

iTunes Radio’s biggest competitor in Australia is Pandora. In March 2015, the internet radio giant had more than 79 million active users. Last year, it posted a loss of $30 million on about $921 million in revenue last year.