Apple "to do radio" too

When I begrudgingly joined in on the unalloyed jubilation at the news that the South African iTunes store was in the pipeline, I had no idea that a mere days later we'd be talking about them venturing into another market.

It turns out, as well as the new iPhone they may unveil their new music streaming service not too dissimilar to the Clear Channel offerings, iHeart and Pandora.  But they are looking to offer more than the current players:

"Apple is seeking direct licenses with record labels that would give the company more flexibility in using music, according to the people briefed on its plans."

Translation:  They are going to use their influence to bully record labels to hand them more music rights than they actually other streaming service.  And don't delude yourself into believing that artists will see any of the streaming revenue;  a cursory look at recent history shows that this is highly unlikely.

I hope you Apple fanboys can summon some sleep at night, after having passionate intercourse with your idevice that is.

UPDATE 16/09/2012:  It turned out to be the usual incestuous Silicon Valley and no mention of the streaming service was made.  You can read more about the announcement here.