Research In Motion (RIM) will soon launch its own music streaming service for the BlackBerry users. The move is clearly aimed at shoring up its position in the mobile business in the face of threats from companies like Apple and Google. The company is negotiating with several music labels such as Universal Music Group, Sony Music, Warner Music Group and EMI Group, says a Reuters report.
The new music streaming service of RIM has not been named yet. It is expected to work on top of the BlackBerry Messenger service which was already in news recently for the permission to developers to add its social features in their apps. The BlackBerry Messenger is likely to face challenges soon from similar services by Apple, Google and Facebook.
While the BlackBerry users currently do not have the ability to buy their music directly through the phone, they do have access to several music player apps including Slacker, Rhapsody and Pandora. RIM’s PlayBook tablet has 7digital’s cloud based music store pre-installed in the tablet. The BlackBerry devices or the PlayBook tablet owners can also sync their devices with their computers to get their music tracks.
Something similar to this has already been announced by Apple in the form of iCloud which is likely to be launched with the iOS 5. The iOS 5 will launch a feature which will be known as “iTunes in the Cloud” which will allow users to access their music from all their devices. The iCloud will also allow the users to upload just a portion of the track which will then be replaced by a high quality music track from the Apple library.