Trent Reznor designing Apple’s streaming service?

Is Nine Inch Nails’ frontman Trent Reznor designing Apple’s streaming service? Is former BBC Radio 1 taste-making presenter Zane Lowe in charge of reconfiguring iTunes Radio, as well as being its chief curator and figurehead?

Those are two reports doing the rounds, according to the New York Times.

Reznor, who was Chief Creative Officer at Beats Music, came over as part of the deal when Apple bought it last June for US$3 billion. Significantly focusing on the needs of a music fan, he is overhauling the iPhones music app to include the new streaming service, according two Apple employees who spoke to the New York Times on the condition of anonymity. The word is that the Apple and Beats apps will be similar and the Beats name will be dropped.

As reported in TMN, Apple already lost the battle to set its monthly subscription at $7.99 to undercut rivals as Spotify. But following heated negotiations with major labels, Apple will charge $9.99, like the other major services, and will not have a free tier.  

Apple may be the biggest music retailer in the world (iTunes claims 800 million accounts) but analysts say that its late entry into streaming (it was so focused on downloads that it didn’t respond quickly enough to changing consumer tastes to streaming) has given it a weakened bargaining power.

Apple will overcome this by going for exclusive deals and premieres for the streaming and iTunes Radio services. It has the power and influence of Lowe (who at the BBC demanded and got excusive tracks) and Reznor as well as Beats co-founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, former Chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records to pull off such deals.

Lowe’s revamp of iTunes Radio is expected to be global in approach but with tailored playlists for different countries akin to a conventional radio station.

Apple’s streaming service is tipped to launch in June, to coincide with the annual Worldwide Developers Conference.