Bloomberg: Overhauled iTunes to improve sharing
According to a Bloomberg article posted today, Apple is planning to overhaul iTunes by the end of 2012, adding iCloud integration and new features for sharing music.
Unnamed sources told Bloomberg staffers that the iCloud integration is targeted at alleviating issues that users currently have with organizing all of their music, videos, photos and apps. Part of the changes were revealed a few days ago when the Podcast app became available to iOS 6 testers. It's expected that individual apps to handle a specific type of content will become the norm.
Apple is also allegedly asking music labels for additional photos and videos that can be included in a future iteration of iTunes, adding more multimedia excitement for users. But the main focus of the new iTunes will be to improve how to find new content and access it from multiple Apple devices.
To improve discovery of new content, Apple is expected to make song-sharing easier in the manner of Spotify's music-subscription service. According to a Bloomberg source, Apple is in negotiations with major record labels to let users listen for free to a song sent to them by a friend. Better integration with Facebook and Twitter is also expected to improve sharing through iTunes, with Apple's failed Ping service falling by the wayside.
