Apple to Overhaul iTunes

By Barbara E. Hernandez

| Thursday, Jun 28, 2012 | Updated 10:20 AM PDT

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Apple will reportedly overhaul its App Store and iTunes within the next year.

Apple plans a major overhaul of iTunes that will integrate iCloud more and add new music-sharing features, according to a report.

The news comes from unnamed sources by Bloomberg News, which reports that the more integrated iCloud file-storage service with iTunes will let users "seamlessly" float from gadget to gadget (i.e. iPhone, iPad, iPod and Mac.)

iTunes is one of Apple's cash cows, raising $1.9 billion last quarter alone, and it also has more than 28 million songs, 650,000 apps and 45,000 movies. The unnamed source told Bloomberg that the overhaul will improve access to their downloaded files.

One of the main ways Apple will attempt to improve discovery is by making it easier for people to share songs, a popular feature of Spotify Ltd.’s music-subscription service. Apple has been negotiating with major record labels for rights that would let a user listen to a song sent to them from a friend for free, one person said.

Apple will also have closer ties with social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, allowing the social networks to share what users are hearing. There's also an effort to create more multimedia features for music.

However, don't expect Apple to offer a monthly fee like Spotify to access the digital store. Apple doesn't want to emulate Spotify *that* much. That would also mean changing the ka-ching model that paid the company $1.9 billion last quarter.

Related Topics Apple, iTunes, Facebook, Twitter, Spotify

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