Apple’s Internet Radio plans reportedly stall due to disagreements with record labels

Apple already dominates the digital music downloads market and is rumored to be looking at breaking into the digital music subscription world with its own Internet radio service. However, these plans have reportedly come to a halt because of stalled talks with the record labels.

Sources told both the New York Post and The New York Times that disagreements over licensing fees have made sure that Apple might not be able to launch what journalists have called iRadio in the summer.

An executive told the Post that Apple is looking to pay just 6 cents for every 100 songs streamed, even though Pandora pays 12 cents per 100 songs. iHeart pays 22 cents, while Spotify pays the most at 35 cents.

The Times cites the publisher Sony/ATV as the main holdout in the talks with Apple. Sony/ATV now forces companies to negotiate directly with them for digital rights, instead of just getting licensing rights from Ascap or BMI.

Apple apparently once had plans to launch iRadio during the Grammys in February, but now they are reportedly shooting for the summer, when they will announce other new gadgets.

These reports follow news that Apple’s Tim Cook may have met with Beats Electronics to discuss possibly partnering on that company’s own new service, Daisy.

VentureBeat notes that iRadio might also be bundled with another new service, iTunes Match. The $25-per-month service allows you to stream your iTunes library across multiple devices.

Apple has not commented on the reports.