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"Apple has completed work on its cloud-based music storage service and is preparing to launch ahead of rival Google, according to a media report.  The Reuters news agency claims that Apple intends to allow iTunes users to store their songs on remote servers to be accessed wherever they are online, citing several people familiar with the company&amp;#039;s plans. Sources claim that Apple has not yet agreed licences for the digital music locker with the major music labels, or confirmed when it will launch the service. An Apple spokesman declined to comment on the speculation.  Apple acquired cloud-based music company Lala in late 2009, but shut the firm down a year ago, sparking speculation that it would launch an Apple-branded cloud service. Wall Street analyst Peter Misek last week claimed that Apple was preparing to unleash a cloud-based TV and video service as part of the company&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;assault on the living room&amp;quot;.  Misek pointed to Apple&amp;#039;s massive new data centre in North Carolina as providing evidence that a cloud video service was on the way. The Reuters report comes as the battle for cloud-based media services intensifies, with online retail giant Amazon launching its own digital music locker earlier in the month. Amazon claimed that it did not need licences for the Amazon Cloud Drive and Amazon Cloud Player services, leading to the threat of legal action from the major labels. The company is thought to have now entered talks with some record labels to agree new deals for a more sophisticated locker service. Google has also been widely rumoured to be readying a cloud music service to run on its Android mobile operating system. The search engine giant previously demonstrated a locker-style platform that could stream music tracks to different devices, but that has yet to launch.  This month, Google bought Canadian mobile music company PushLife as a way to enable Android users to more easily purchase and share content on their devices. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/news/a315937/apple-to-launch-cloud-music-service/>