iCloud Pricing: Free Trial, then $25 Annual Subscription Fee?

The LA Times is reporting some new details regarding Apple’s iCloud, announced earlier this week:

Dubbed iCloud, the service initially will be offered for a free period to people who buy music from Apple’s iTunes digital download store, allowing users to upload their music to Apple’s computers where they can then play from a Web browser or Internet-connected Apple device.

The company plans to eventually charge a subscription fee, about $25 a year, for the service. Apple would also sell advertising around its iCloud service.

According to the LA Times, iCloud will be offered for free, then users charged $25 annually on a subscription plan. This model is similar to Apple’s MobileMe service, as it also offered a trial but a more expensive $99/year cost. iCloud will allow users to stream their digital purchases from the cloud via Apple’s servers (we assume the $1 billion North Carolina data centre will play a major role).

Apple Has Sealed the Deal with All Four Major Music Labels

The LA Times also reports Apple has finally managed to secure deals with major record labels Warner, EMI, Sony, and Universal (the last to sign). The terms apparently have Apple sharing 30% of revenue from iCloud’s music offering with the major lablels, 12% with those holding the songwriting rights, and the remaining 58% for Apple to keep. We’ve seen patents for a buffer feature to help cache streaming on local devices, and the longstanding rumours of a streaming music service have all but become a reality. What’s going to happen to MobileMe?

Would you be interested in subscribing to Apple’s iCloud offering for $25/year?

 [via LA Times]