Apple iTunes Radio to Go Live on Sept. 18

The Apple iTunes Radio, the company’s music feature, will soon go live on the Sept. 18 together with its system update iOS7. This new service, Apple's entry into the Internet radio, is expected to receive an enormous number of audiences starting on the date of its release.

Stephen Bryan, Warner Music's Executive Vice President - Digital Strategy described it as a big opportunity to go global and generate more revenues.

“It’s a huge opportunity on a global basis to accelerate the transition of radio listeners and advertising dollars from terrestrial to digital,” said Bryan in an interview with the N.Y Times.

Although some speculate that the new Apple service threatens the incumbent Pandora Media in the Internet Radio industry, most industry players see positive effects rather than intense competition. In fact, they highlight that the potential effects of Apple's marketing prowess will produce enormous results.

Music publishers and record labels are expecting more digital advertisers and increased global popularity of the Internet radio. Although the iTunes Radio will be initially be exclusively available in the U.S. it will soon go international. And to date, Apple has iTunes stores in 119 international markets.

Apple is the sole biggest music retailer as downloads in its iTunes provides music and record label companies a substantial source of income in the face of declining sales in record CD's. With the release of the iTunes Radio, they will also benefit from the unique service feature where a radio listener has the option to purchase a song while it is streaming. Another feature allows iTunes subscribers to have the song linked to the cloud to allow their other Apple devices immediate access.

Currently, the value of a music downloaded priced at $0.99 compared to hundreds of music streaming is so much more in the current digital music industry. The deals with record labels calls for Apple to pay $ 0.13 for each song access in the iTunes Radio for the first year upon release. This is a bit higher than Pandora's present rate of $ 0.12. Further, Apple will also be sharing a percentage of revenues from advertisements to music companies.