New details revealed on Apple’s upcoming cloud music service

Several new details have emerged on Apple’s upcoming “iCloud” music service, including the ability to automatically add music to the cloud by scanning a library, according to a report by Businessweek.

One of the biggest problems with Amazon and Google’s recently released cloud music players is the need to upload music into a digital locker. Apple will eliminate this need, at least partially. The iCloud service will scan a customer’s music library in iTunes and mirror the collection on its own servers. If the track is not available in the iTunes Store or can’t be recognized, it would then have to be uploaded by the user.

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Another great function of the iCloud service will be the ability to stream music at the same quality as iTunes Plus songs (256kbps AAC) even if the user encoded songs in his or her library as lower-quality MP3 or AAC tracks.

A week ago we heard that Apple had reached a cloud music deal with Sony, EMI, and Warner Music Group but was still trying to finalize a deal with Universal.

While both Amazon and Google have debuted cloud music services, neither company has been able to reach an agreement with music labels. Since Apple’s iTunes sits at the top of the digital music food chain, I fully expect it to be the first company to reach a wide-ranging agreement with all the major music labels on cloud music services.

What do you think about the iCloud service? Would you use it? Would you buy more music because of it?