Bloomberg: Apple’s iAd team gearing up for new iRadio service

iTunes 11 (Albums)

This weekend was chock-full of iRadio news, with multiple reports claiming that Apple reached a deal with the Warner Music Group on Sunday in an effort to wrap up negotiations involving its Pandora-like music service in time for WWDC next week.

And that trend continues today with a new scoop from Bloomberg regarding the service. The outlet is reporting this afternoon that Apple is revamping how it sells mobile ads to better cater to businesses that apparently can’t wait to advertise on iRadio…

Bloomberg’s Adam Satariano reports:

“Apple Inc. (AAPL), planning to release a music-streaming service next week, is revamping how it sells mobile advertising to cater to businesses eager to reach customers as they listen to songs, people familiar with the changes said.

The company has taken steps to be more flexible with advertisers to get more business. Apple has required marketers to pay a fee for each 1,000 times an advertisement is placed in an app, plus an additional $2 for every time a customer clicks that ad. In some cases, Apple has eliminated one of those charges, one person familiar with the company said.

Apple also has cut prices so that media agencies can spend $1 million and use the purchased space for different advertising clients. And Apple started taking ad business from companies that sell alcohol, something Jobs resisted after creating iAd, said one person.”

The report goes on to say that Apple is pitching its network to advertisers by emphasizing the data it has at its disposal for targeting, which for example, includes a history of the movies, music, books and applications each user has paid for and downloaded.

Perhaps more interesting is the fact that Bloomberg indicates in the story that it has independently confirmed Apple is pushing hard for a WWDC reveal of its streaming music service. That adds weight to an already credible theory first proposed by The New York Times and CNET. Unless something huge comes up, we’re expecting to see it debut next week.

Few concrete details are known about the so-called ‘iRadio’ service, but the rumor mill seems to have a pretty good idea of what it is. By all accounts, the service will be free for users, supported by ads (similar to Pandora), and offer unique features like the ability to fast-forward and rewind songs.

WWDC kicks off next Monday, June 10, and will run through the 14th. Stay tuned.