Apple to sell audio ads on "iRadio" music service
Apple Inc is gearing up to sell audio ads on a music-streaming service it intends to unveil at its developers conference next week, according to people familiar with the plan, going up against Google Inc and Pandora Media Inc in the increasingly competitive market for mobile tunes.
The iPhone maker, which has been working to put together a streaming music service for the past year, has contacted some of its bigger advertisers but hasn't started selling the service extensively yet, one of the people said.
The music service, dubbed "iRadio" by the tech industry and media, is expected to closely resemble Pandora Music in its monetization strategy. It will feature audio and banner ads sold through Apple's iAd mobile network, said the people who were not authorized to speak publicly.
The service, which is expected to launch later this year, will also have ads currently sold by the iAd division, they said.
When finally launched, Apple will become the latest entrant to an arena that sources say tech giants from Amazon.com Inc to Facebook have considered joining.
It's unclear what features the service will have, though Wall Street analysts and technology blogs speculate it will, like Pandora, operate much like an online radio station that streams a selection of music based on users' preferences.
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