Streaming music services will have some new competition as Apple (News - Alert) plans to introduce its free streaming music and radio service. While the company stalled its plans for months, Apple is currently pushing for licensing deals with other music companies in order to reveal the service at the Worldwide Developers Conference, according to The New York Times. Apple’s new service plans to satisfy the music needs of any user’s taste. Should music services such as Pandora (News - Alert) and Spotify be worried?

According to The Verge, Apple’s new service is rumored to be a threat to Pandora due to its huge number of users. The radio service, nicknamed iRadio by the technology press, is expected to stream different music based on a user’s music taste and previous music purchases. The New York Times mentioned that the Internet radio feature is expected to be free and supported by advertising. This is similar to Pandora, which has more than 70 million users with a majority of users that do not pay. It seems as if both Apple and Pandora will be each other’s largest competition. Supposedly, sources say that iRadio will come with more on-demand features.

In terms of negotiating deals, Apple has signed with Warner Music Group and Universal Music. The company is said to still be working on a deal with Sony Music. Apple looks to negotiate directly with music groups for more extensive licensing terms. The company finds that iRadio will bring revenue to its iTunes store as users will continue to buy and download more music. 

Rather enthusiastic about getting the word out, Apple will reveal more about its new service at the developers’ conference on June 10in San Francisco. After the long delay, Apple’s announcement and plans for iRadio will give streaming music services much to talk about. In only a matter of time, iRadio could potentially become the most highly used streaming music service.