Analyst Predicts Apple’s Pandora Competitor to Launch in 2013

BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield is predicting that Apple will debut its long-awaited Pandora competitor service at some point in 2013.

MacRumors:

Previously, there were reports that Apple and the major music labels weren’t close in negotiations, but Greenfield says they’re still negotiating on song catalogs.

“Consumer behavior (is) increasingly shifting toward access to a music catalog from ownership of specific songs. We expect iRadio to be incorporated into the iTunes iOS app with personalized radio functionality akin to Pandora, integrated with iTunes to purchase music and other music related content such as concert information/tickets/merchandise via Live Nation (LYV) and Ticketmaster.”

Bloomberg had reported in November that Apple had re-entered with music labels, and that “iRadio” was set to debut in early 2013. A December report from CNET said that the sides were far apart, as Apple’s terms’ had left the labels “cold.”

Greenfield also predicts that the long rumored Apple TV will not see the light of day in 2013 because of content restrictions.

What do you think? Will the “iRadio” service debut this year? Will the Apple television set ever make it out of the testing labs? Will Archie ever decide between Betty and Veronica? Sorry, wrong website.

Let us know your opinions on iRadio and the Apple TV in the comments section below. Archie is on his own.

Chris Hauk

Chris is a Senior Editor at Mactrast. He lives somewhere in the deep Southern part of America, and yes, he has to pump in both sunshine and the Internet.